From Big City To Small Town
by CalaisForever
Summary: When camp got to be too much, Atlanta left to where she knew the monsters couldn't smell her. Even with her scent. But what happens when she meets someone. . . and the gods dont like them together. . . Paul/OC a tiny bit of Embry/OC and Leah/OC later.
1. Prologue

**A/N: K, so this idea has been swarming around in my head forever and I really need to get it out! But, I promise it is going to be a full fledged story! :D**

_Italics=thoughts_

**Prologue**

"You don't understand! I can't spend the rest of my life at camp! I can't sit here and refuse to live my life in the outside world! I'm 19! Please let me leave!" I was looking at Chiron with the best puppy-dog pout I had, and it was working. A little more and I knew I would be home free.

"You don't seem to realize that the monsters will find you! This is the safest place for you! Please, Atlanta, just stay here." He begged me from his wheelchair. Now, I know what you're thinking. _How can you argue with him right? It seems perfectly logical to stay. I mean, what 19 year old kid doesn't want to go to camp?_ Me. Or maybe you're thinking, _Why would you want to leave if there are monsters after you?_ Easy. They're easy to kill, and it's fun. Yeah, I know I'm a weird kid, thinking killing stuff is fun. Not exactly your regular 19-year-old-girl thoughts. What can I say, I'm unique. But, anyway, back to my point. I had been cooped up at camp since I was 11. I was thrown out of my house at 7 and survived on my own for 4 years. If I could handle that I think I could handle being away from camp for a year. That's all I wanted, a test run. One year on my own and if it didn't work I would come back to camp with no complaints. Ok, maybe only minor complaints.

"Chiron, I know how to handle myself! Not to mention, it's not like there are many monsters left! They're all flocking to Tartarus! And I know where to go so the monsters won't find me!"

"Oh, really, Atlanta? You know where to go? And where would that be?" Chiron shot back. _Talk about sass!_

"Easy. La Push, Washington. It is the definition of boondocks, and there is such a strong shape shifter smell there that no monster would dare to try and go through the town. They all avoid it as if it were the black plague. There is no way they could smell me underneath all that." Chiron sighed. My plan was fool proof. He knew I would win eventually. I don't know why he bothered holding out so long.

"Fine. Have it your way, Atlanta. But when you come back, I get to say I told you so."

"IF I come back, Chiron, you can say I told you so."


	2. Meeting the Pack

**A/N: First Chapter! So this will be following PJO. Please Enjoy!  
**

_Italics=thoughts_

**Chapter 1: Meeting the Pack**

**Atlanta's POV**

One of Chiron's damn rules of me leaving was that I would have to go to high school. La Push High School. Where the town is so damned small EVERYONE ALREDY KNOWS EACH OTHER! I swear, he is trying to set me up for social suicide! The fact that I am 'dyslexic' and have 'ADHD' is definitely not going to help when I'm trying to blend in and keep a low profile. Damn this sucks. Good news is, I get to start a few days later while I move into . . . . MY OWN HOUSE!

It was a small house, but it had a kitchen, living room, basement, 2 bathrooms, and 2 bedrooms. When you walk in the front door you are pretty much in the living room. Across the room is a doorway that leads into the kitchen. When in the doorway, to your left is the sink, cupboards, etc. and to your right is the table. Aross the room is a sliding glass door onto a nice back porch with a little swing on it. To the far right, on the other side of the table, is a door that leads down into the basement. The basement is all open, complete with couch, TV, pool table, and WII. The stairs to upstairs are located to your immediate right when you come in the front door. Beside the stairs is a door to a little 2 piece bathroom. When you go up stairs it is basically a hallway with 2 doors on one side, each leading to a bedroom, with a door in between them on the opposite side. That door leads to the bathroom. I was so proud of this place. I bought it pretty cheap, and I didn't need to fix it up or anything and it was fully furnished. Best part about my house . . . it is surrounded my forest and if you go through a trail in the back, it goes right out to this cliff over the sea. Sweet!

I dropped my suitcase on my bed, and pulled out a backpack with everything I needed for a couple days, to put in my truck. Just in case. I know I told Chiron that the monsters wouldn't smell me, but it was precaution. Anyway, I went and through the backpack into my red Sierra. I loved my truck. It even had a 'Just Hunt' trailer hitch plug, a gift from the Hunters of Artemis last Christmas. I had grown pretty tight with the Hunters. Artemis and Athena had both been kind of like mothers to me . . . more than my own mom at least. My 'real' mom kicked me out when I was 7. Bitch.

I went inside and started to unpack. Then I went downstairs to look in the fridge to discover . . . no food. Big surprise. I went upstairs and threw on my white short shorts, and a blue tank top .

I grabbed my keys and hopped in my truck and drove to town. I probably could've walked, but there was no way I was carrying the groceries back.

After I had done my grocery shopping I decided to go for a run. It was the most normal exercise I could think of doing that would mostly resemble the capture the flag game we have every Friday; that I would be playing if I were back at camp right now. That would probably be the only thing I will miss.

Once I got back, I drove around town to see where the party spot was. I drove past Sue's Diner where I saw tons of people . . . tons of really large people. And I don't mean fat, I mean like 10 guys all incredibly ripped and over 6 foot. I stopped. I figured if I was going to be going to school on Monday than I should at least figure out who they were and stuff, right? Right.

When I walked in I tensed. It was easy to smell them from where I was standing. These were the shape shifters. I rattled off what I knew about them in my head:

_Ripped . . . obviously_

_Hugely, gigantically tall_

_Smell_

_Insanely hot . . . I mean temperature wise . . . although no complaints on their looks_

_Shape shift . . . duh._

_Can read each other's minds in shift form_

_Gods have a treaty with them . . . in other words, DO NOT FIGHT/KILL_

_These ones have a treaty with those . . . . things, ugh._

_Imprinting . . . soul mates . . . wonder how they feel about that?_

_BEFRIEND THEM FOR YOUR OWN GOOD! THEIR SMELL OVERPOWERS MINE AND IT WILL KEEP THE MONSTERS AWAY! _

_What do they shift into?_

I think that's a pretty good list. I walked up to the counter and took a seat on a stool. The nearest shifter sat 2 seats to my right. I saw him and the rest of the guys tense up. And a girl. Add to list:

_There is a girl in the pack too._

I knew they could smell me. But none of them made a move, and none of them stopped what they were doing. If I hadn't have been waiting for it I never would've known. Not to mention they wouldn't do anything because they probably have no idea what I am at the moment. Then a girl came and took my order.

"Hey, I'm Kim. Can I get you something?"

"Sure. Just a tea would be great."

She went off and got me my tea. I could feel waves of tension just rolling off the guy sitting 3 chairs down from me. I assumed she was his imprint. Kim came back with my tea.

"Are you new in town?"

"Yeah, I'm Atlanta. I just moved here. I'm starting at La Push High on Monday."

"That's awesome!" She replied, "All these guys except Sam, he's the one in the booth over there, and I all go to La Push High. Here I'll introduce you to everybody."

There was Jared, _imprints_; Sam and his wife Emily, _Alpha and imprint_; Jacob, _I smell vampire, he must be the leech lover_; Embry and Quil, _pranksters, I will get along with them great; _Leah, _bitchy vibe, beware, but could bond over our mutual bitchiness_; Seth, _Leah's younger bro, cool kid; _and Collin and Brady, _kids of the pack, could've been twins_. She told me her pack of friends, _I don't even think she realized she said that_, wasn't complete. Some guy named Paul still wasn't here. Apparently he was the one with the anger problem. There's always one. Like Clarisse. Oh Gods, if Paul was anything like her there was no way I could hang around these people. I could tell they were waiting for Paul to start interrogating me. Then the door opened and another ripped guy walked in, shirtless. I figured this was Paul and I have to say I was loving the abs. Then he looked up and he looked into my eyes, and all of a sudden I went from 'oh I won't like him' to 'omg, he's amazing'. I'm pretty sure I realized what happened before he did, because I was out that door and in my truck before any of them even moved.

Shit, I was in trouble.

Sure enough, when I got home, the first thing I did was race down to the cliff and sit with my feet hanging over the edge. I bowed my head, trying to fight back tears. I never cried, not even when I had been wounded in battle. But it had killed me just to walk away from Paul. And I couldn't have something that big tying me down here, because I would have to return to camp at some point and he couldn't come then. I decided right then that I would do whatever it took to distance myself from him.

"Father, I-" my voice cracked as he materialized and sat beside me. He He rubbed my back while I sobbed. And that's all I needed. Not to tell me it would be okay or it would work out, but to just be there. Even though so many kids at camp complained about how there God parent was never there, mine was perfect. My dad was my favourite parent, and I was among his favourite children. Percy and I were pretty much tied, but I think I win, because who got named after the ocean he lives in . . . yeah, that's right, ME.

**Paul's POV**

I had just come from a long run and I was feeling great! I had run off all my steam, and on the way back had just lived in the feeling of running. As I walked into Sue's Diner I noticed she got a new welcome mat and then I looked up and noticed there was another girl sitting with the pack. She was gorgeous. Her short shorts showing off long tanned, toned legs, and the tank top she wore showing the toned shoulders and arms. Her brown locks cascaded all the way down to the small of her back. Then she turned and our eyes met. The gorgeous sea blue orbs were amazing. Their colour almost seemed to change before my eyes. They went from the perfect calm Caribbean blue to a colour that looked a lot like a windy sea. Almost as if she was surprised. But before I could figure out the emotion she was gone. And she took a piece of me with her. Then, of course, the guys figured out what happened.

"Dude . . ." Leave it to Quil to say something intelligent.

Jared piped up. "Congrats, Paul! Finally!"

"Kinda sucks, though." I glared at Brady and took a menacing step toward him. Of course, Collin was the first to jump to his friends defence. Bad idea.

"Well, I think, he just means . . . uhh, that umm, you know, uhh, cuz she left and uhh, yeah . . ."

"Calm down, Paul. We're all happy for you, but she did leave awfully fast." Jake needs to learn to shut the hell up. I turned my glare to him. Just because he thinks he can take me—

"She knew." That made everyone of us freeze and look at Sam.

"How do you know?" Was she scared of me already? How did she know? What if this meant she would never speak to me? My heart couldn't bear the thought.

"Paul, look at how fast she left. The minute she saw you she knew. Not to mention, no human can move that fast. You all smelled her. She wasn't human." Oh my god. He was right. Shit. I finally find my imprint and she just has to come with strings attached.

"I'm going to find her."

"No." I was surprised it was Kim who piped up.

My anger was tightly controlled in my voice, and I could feel Jared ready to spring. "Excuse me?"

"I know where she lives. I'll go find her and get her to come to the bon fire tonight." She got up and left. It was killing me not to go after her, but I knew she wouldn't come if it was me that came to get her. Damn, I didn't even know her name. Embry seemed to read my thoughts.

"Her names Atlanta, Paul."

That's when I realized Embry had stayed quiet during this whole thing. Embry is never quiet. What the fuck? That's when it hit me.

He was the only one other original pack member with no imprint.

I walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and smiled.

"Hey now, Pauly. Don't be going soft on me just because you got yourself a girlfriend, now." And I hit him upside the head. Stupid ass, Embry.

**Atlanta's POV**

After my crying session, we just sat talking for a while. Then we both heard someone coming. My dad got up and walked behind me.

"Bye, Atlanta."

"Bye, Dad." I said as a silver light erupted from behind me. Then Kim sat down beside me. I looked over at her giving her a questioning look.

"I may not have known you very long, but I get a good feel on people. I knew you would be here. Plus this is where the guys always cliff dive."

"Cliff dive?" I asked.

"Yeah. Those crazy asses jump of this freaking cliff for fun."

"Sounds sweet. I'll have to try it next time they're here."

"Naw, humans can't. We won't survive. Stupid wolves think there all powerful." She muttered the last sentence.

"Why do you say humans?" I asked, already knowing full-well she knew.

"Well, the werewolves just dive right off, because of their stupid freaking 'super powers'. But we imprints aren't allowed. The waves would crush us against the cliff. Unless, of course, we go with our respected wolves." Ah, so they shift into wolves.

"So, I am to assume that you are Jared's imprint and that all of them are shape shifters."

"Yep. All of them. And it gets so freaking annoying."

I laughed at that one. "Girl, you don't know annoying until you have met my half brother. Try living at camp with him for a summer when he is in the same cabin as you, and every guy that talks to you gets glared at." She laughed.

"Yeah, that would be torture. Do you and your brother always go to camp together?" This was getting a little too close to home, so I kept my mouth shut.

"All right. We'll move onto a different topic . . . a much more interesting topic. Paul." Just Kim saying his name brought a small smile to my lips against my will.

"Aha! So you do like him!"

"I do not! I just know I'm his imprint. That's it. I don't even know his last name. And on top of that I probably won't ever be able to like him because of the stupid Gods and their stupid rules and the stupid camp rules and the stupid mon—" That's when I realized what I was saying. My eyes widened as I stared out over the sea. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. The sky got cloudy and it started to storm and the sea even got a little crazy. Then the earth started to shake.

"I'm sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. I didn't even realize what I was saying. Please, you don't understand what it's like." Then the sea got really angry and it cause everything else to stop and go back the way it was.

Then I looked over at Kim.

"Holy shit. What was that?" Crap. Now I have to go and explain everything. Maybe I could delay.

"Not sure. Off to bed. Long day. School Monday. See ya." I got up and nearly ran to my house, but she caught my arm before I could go anywhere.

"Not so fast. You are going to come to the bonfire tonight. It's right on the beach, so all you have to do is come out here and follow the trail on your left. If you don't come, I will come find you. See you at 7." And then she walked off. Oh my Gods, what have I gotten myself into.

**A/N: So what did you think? Too long, too short, too in betweenish? Is it going too fast for the first chapter? Please review and give me some story ideas!  
**


	3. The Other Kind

**A/N: Second Chapter is up and ready to go! Thanx to **_**Warriorsqueen, xx-I-love-books-xx**_**, and **_**LChandler2009**_** for putting me on your alert list. And, of course, to my one and only reviewer.**

_**Fantasylover111: **_**I won't wreck it, don't worry, and you will find out soon . . . **

**So please enjoy! :D**

**Chapter 2: The **_**Other**_** Kind**

**Atlanta's POV**

I sat on the edge of the cliff in my shorts and shirt, just thinking about the last time I sat here a few hours ago. The bon fire was at 7, it was 6:30. I knew that there was no way I could tell them who I really was, not yet at least. I would wait here until Kim came up to get me.

All of a sudden I had the urge to go down to the beach, so I looked up from the ocean. There he was, standing tall and proud in all his gorgeous glory. I met his eyes I wanted nothing more than to run down and into his arms, but I couldn't. I wouldn't. Being a half-blood I have a very strong will, and that meant I could steel myself against pretty much anything. So I waited. In about 10 minutes Kim came up and sat next to me.

"We're all waiting for you so that we can start the legends."

"Kim," I sent her a pleading look, "please don't make me tell you guys my story. You think that being a shape shifter is bad, you have no idea. My story is ten times worse."

"Hey, relax. No one is going to make you talk. Well, Sam might try, but everyone will tell him to chill. And if he try's the whole I'm-the-alpha thing, just ignore him. Please come down." She softened her voice drastically for the last sentence. Damn, the girl really knows how to play people.

"Fine. But I never said I was going to like it."

"Trust me, you will." She leaned in to whisper into my ear. "You get to sit beside Paul."

That sent shivers down my spine. The good kind. The kind you shouldn't have until you know the guy and he is officially your boyfriend. Crap.

I took a deep breath to calm my speeding heart. "K, just let me grab something."

I ran into my house and grabbed to bracelets and threw them onto my left wrist. One brown, one beige. Both would transform into swords when you pushed the streak of colour. I hated fighting with a shield. Even during training at camp, I refused to fight with anything other than my bow or twin swords. Seeing as my bow was in the truck and it would be really stupid to bring, considering everyone except the imprints would see it because of the mist, I stuck with my twin swords. I also changed from my flip flops to my black converse because they were made especially to hold a dagger on the outside, but no one could notice it. Nothing wrong with being cautious.

"K, Kim, let's go." I braced myself. I was going to have to stay far away from him.

However, my statement proved impossible when we got to the fire. Of course, the only seat left was beside Paul, unless I wanted to stand behind all the unusually tall wolf boys.

"Hey. I'm Paul." He extended his hand for me to shake. I took it.

"Atlanta." I couldn't mistake the feeling that shot up my arm as our hands touched.

"OK, we're just waiting on Jake and Nessie." All of a sudden the two came into view and I jumped to my feet, my hands ready on my bracelets. It hissed.

"Well, well, well. I didn't think your kind was allowed this far away from camp."

"Yeah, funny story. Guess how it ends? Your kind dead." I glared furiously and she glared back. As soon as I said those words, Jacob had her behind him and he was crouched low in front of her, his teeth bared while he was growling. Then, all of a sudden, Paul was there, in front of me, doing the same thing, but he was shaking slightly. I knew if I didn't calm him down he would phase and that's the last thing I wanted.

"OK, how about we call a truce? Before Paul tears out Jacob's throat." I smirked at my last sentence and she hissed just a bit more. I knew she couldn't dodge my logic.

"Fine. But don't forget, half-blood, my origins are indestructible." Well, that was just too much. Screw the truce she was dead. I leaped over both wolves and pressed my blades, one to her throat, one to her heart and stated calmly, "Call me that again, say that again, and I will remind you that you are not the original."

She looked just a little bit scared, but was trying not to show it. I could tell behind me Paul and Jacob were trying not to phase while the boys were holding them back . . . or were attempting to hold Paul back at least . . . it was working . . . for the most part anyways.

"Fine. But never forget who you are and always remember you won't fit into this world." She had just the slightest smirk on her face. I put my swords back to their normal form.

"On the contrary, dear leech, I fit in perfectly. Good magic with good magic. You on the other hand, well, I think you're on the wrong side." I had my legendary smirk on my face and she had no reply. She was about to lunge at me when my dad and Zeus decided to pop in. I swear they have like a tracker or something on me.

"Now, now, Atlanta. You should know better. Chiron told you what was going on here." Where did my dad get off telling me this?

I turned to him. "Doesn't mean I have to like it. Besides," I glanced back to Nessie, "she's still standing."

"Cut it awfully close, though. I never did want you to leave camp. You're just the kind of child that would cause this mess." Unlike my dad, Zeus was big on formalities and I'm pretty sure he hated me now, so I made sure to bow low before I spoke.

"My lord, that treaty was made between the wolves and the . . . vampires," I choked the word out, "Not between them and Gods."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a second here. I believe you owe us an explanation," Jared said. Zeus grinned evilly.

"Yes, Atlanta, I do believe an explanation is in order. Good luck. And you are quite right. However if you want to live here, being a magic being, you should think about following the rules of that treaty." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, refraining from saying anything while he disappeared. When I opened my eyes my dad was still there.

"Please tell me he's wrong," I begged. I didn't want to follow this treaty . . . especially if it meant I couldn't mess with the vamps. He knew exactly what I was getting at . . . and he laughed at me.

"My daughter, I am sure as long as they are unharmed you will be fine." I smirked at that. Let the games begin. He patted my head affectionately. "But do try to be more careful what you say. It's hard enough to keep him in check, but when all of them get going it's nearly impossible."

"Right. Sorry, Dad." Then he was gone.

I turned and found all of them looking at me, their expressions ranging from confusion to shock. Nessie, of course, was just glaring at me outright.

"If you try anything on my family—"

"Oh, don't get your panties in a bunch. I'm not going to do anything. I think the first thing in order, is to get you guys to tell me about this treaty."

"No. I think the first thing in order is for you to tell us about yourself." Sam tried to get me to tell using his alpha voice. Man, I could already tell this guy was a prick.

"Nope, I like my suggestion better." I could see Kim trying not to smile out of the corner of my eye. The pack looked incredulous. Ha ha, suckers. No magic being was supposed to be able to withstand an alpha command. Good thing I out ranked them.

"Well, basically, the Cullen's, Nessie's family, are all 'vegetarian' vampires, meaning they don't drink human blood. They don't bite or kill a human and they stay off our land. In return we don't kill them. That's pretty much it." Well, that was pretty simple. That also left a lot of doors open. They're doomed.

"Awesome," I said, grinning wickedly.

Nessie was still glaring at me. I have to say I was impressed with how long she could keep it up. "No, not awesome. That means you can get the hell out of this town, you freaking half-blood." K, no. I warned her, but now she just wanted to start a war. I slowly stood up from the tree I had been sitting on. She stood up across the fire from me. All of a sudden she was right in front of me. I didn't even flinch. I was also several inches taller than her standing at a lovely 5' 10" which made her attempt to intimidate me even worse.

"Back the hell up, leech, before I make sure your god damned kind stays and rots in Tartarus forever." That made her back off. So she knew a little about her origins at least. How much did she know about the gods? I decided not to stay and find out, because that would just lead to questions about me.

"Well, as much fun as this has been, I'm off to bed." Everyone was too shocked at the leech stepping down that they didn't make any protests.

I got back to my house and flopped down on my bed. _Well, shit, Atlanta. Really screwed up this time eh?_

A dreamless sleep found me and I was glad for it. That rarely happens at camp, and at camp your dreams always mean something. And it's never something good.

I found the quietness so much better than the constant noise of New York. It was nice not to have to worry about any monsters creeping up on me in the night.

And with that thought in mind, I woke up the next morning at 11:30 and had a nice lunch before pulling out my laptop and doing nothing all day. It was awesome. That night, before I went to bed, I sent an Iris message to my brother at camp.

"Oh, goddess, except my offering. Camp Half-Blood, please."

Percy answered right away.

"I got a quest!" He had a huge smile on his face.

"Excuse me?" I asked, not at all thrilled with the idea of my baby brother going on a quest.

"Yeah, I'm so excited. Me, Grover and Annabeth get to go!"

"And where exactly is this quest?"

"Kind of all over. . ." He sentence trailed off. He knew more than he was telling me.

"Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon, if you do not tell me about this quest, Gods help me I will reach thorough this Iris message and strangle you!"

He gulped. "Well, we're going to the Underworld, but it's not that dangerous, you see we're going to get a kid who's trapped down there—"

"Stop!" I raised my hand. "I don't want to know anymore, but please, please, PLEASE, be careful. You don't know how dangerous the Underworld can be. I have been there more than once and it's not pretty."

"I will, sis, now stop worrying!"

"It's my job. Be careful and call me when you get back!" Then the message faded.

Shit. My dad better watch over that kid with all he's got. And he's got a lot considering he's a God.

**A/N: So Percy is on a quest! And we got a little drama going on with Atlanta and Nessie**** :D Anyway hope you liked and please review!**


	4. School and Paul

**A/N: K, third chapter! Brownie points to . . . **_**boscogirl, Ashley M. Z., loves beauty, **_**and**_** Team-LaPush-Werewolves **_**for alerting/favourite-ing me this chapter! :D Thanks! And to my lovely reviewers of course:**

_**Fantasylover 111: **_**Glad I didn't, and thanks! :D**

_**loves beauty**_**: Thanks! :D And I will try to keep the updates coming! :D**

_**Team-LaPush-Werewolves**_**: Thanks! Btw, LUV your name! :D**

_**Nico Rocks:**_** lol here you go! Btw, love the name! 3**

_**Twilight-PJOgirl**_**: It is kind of obvious in your name! :D lol Thanks! And hope you like this chapter! :D**

_**boscogirl**_**: WELL DUH! 3 3 and we should definitely **_**study**_** . . . ;)**

**Anyways, enjoy . . . **

**Chapter 3: School . . . and Paul**

**Atlanta's POV**

I woke up at 8 the next morning. Stupid school. We all know how well this is going to work out. I'm going to go to all my classes and not know anything because my education up until now has been kind of spotty, running away from monsters and all. And then my dyslexia will kick in and I won't be able to read anything because it's not ancient Greek, and then, to make things worse, my ADHD will kick in and I will be itching to just get up and start fighting something.

I sighed. Man, I need to get a life. Anyway, I got into my denim shorts and black tank top with a white cardigan. Then, of course, my bracelets and converse. I grabbed my favourite backpack (not the ratty old one in the truck), and stuck a granola bar in my mouth as I decided to walk to school.

The walk wasn't that long, and it was really nice. The sun had just risen, so there was a mist covering everything (not the magical kind). It was beautiful. I always was a country girl. Don't get me wrong, I loved going shopping with friends, but I always loved the peace and quiet of an open field, or a forest, or a beach more than the sounds of a noisy city.

I walked up to the school and noticed how tiny it was. Surely I would have all my classes with at least one member of the pack. Shit. Then at lunch they would probably want me to sit with them. Shit, again. That's when the 20 questions would start. Just what I wanted. Please note the sarcasm.

I walked into my first period. Math. What a way to start off the morning. Ugh.

As I walked in my teacher signed the slip of paper I had been given and gestured for me to take a seat. I went straight to the back row, trying to hide myself and it was the easiest place to spot anyone or anything that would come through the door. Some habits you just can't kick. Of course, the only seat in the back was next to none other than. . . Paul. I was kind of excited that I would get to see him first thing every day, but quickly reprimanded myself. This pup may think he can take on the world, but he knew nothing of my life.

As I sat down next to him I was his eyes glide to my face. I let out a small smile and he smiled back. I took out a piece of paper and wrote:

_Fancy meeting you here._

**Not really. I may be a genius, but I still need to keep up the charade.**

_Really? Is that why Kim said you were flunking math?_

He scoffed at my remark and the teacher looked back at us. "Well than, Mr. Walker, I suppose you could solve this problem for us?"

"Sorry, teach, I don't do well with math in the morning." That got a little chuckle out of everyone, and I let of a smile.

"Well than, Mr. Walker, I hope you do well with Principal Matecs in the morning," he said as he pulled out a slip for Paul to take to the office.

"See ya," he whispered as he past behind me, his hand trailing over my shoulders and leaving a streak of shivers behind it. Damn, I have to get my hormones under control.

After math ended, I walked to my locker only to find Paul standing beside it. I turned to him, "What are you like stalking me or something?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing, seeing as you were the one who came to my town, hangs out with my friends and is now standing beside my locker." No way. Were the gods trying to make me suffer?

"This is your locker?" Even I could hear the incredulity in my voice, "No way is my locker beside yours."

"Ha ha, this is good."

"How do you figure?"

"Because it gives me an excuse to see you a lot more and it gives me an excuse to walk you to your classes." He wants to see me? He wants to walk me to my classes? No, bad Atlanta. You can't—

"You don't need an excuse for that." The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them. He smiled and I felt a slow blush creep into my cheeks. That was the weirdest thing. No one ever made me blush. No guy, not my friends making fun of me, no one. He really was my soul mate.

He walked me to the gym, a class I had with Embry. And when I came out there he was to walk me to English, which I had with Kim, and after English to walk me to Bio, which I had with Quil (who knew the guys liked science?). And after that, the dreaded lunch. As we walked into the cafeteria, I took a deep breath and we walked to the table where the pack sat. Surprisingly there was no one new, so we got to skip introductions. And even more surprising . . . no 20 questions. I was shocked but didn't bring it up. It was awesome. Embry and Quil were the pranksters of the group, and I knew we would have a lot to plan in the near future. The seniors were; Paul, Quil, Embry, Kim, Jared, Leah, Jake, and me. Seth, Brady, and Collin were all sophomores' and Sam and Emily were in there 20's.

After lunch, we resumed our day. Paul continued to be a gentleman and walked me to and from every class. I was insanely grateful when the day ended and none of the teachers had asked me questions and my ADHD hadn't been too bad. I also LOVED it when I started to walk home and Paul drove up beside me in a really, really nice all black GMC Sierra.

"Want a ride?"

"I have legs," I replied. Being the person I am, I like exercise and I'm not big on being picked up on the side of the road. Trust me, it's happened before and you don't want to know.

"Yeah, but this is my very subtle way of trying to find out where you live."

"Don't you already know from the bonfire Saturday night?" I instantly regretted saying it when I saw the look on his face.

"Well, yeah, I guess-"

"A ride sounds great." I didn't want to make things awkward and it would be really nice to sit and talk with him some more. I had known the guy for like two days and I already couldn't be apart from him.

It was a nice conversation, but way too short. When we pulled up into my driveway I didn't want to get out. We sat there for a minute before an idea popped into my head.

"Hey, Paul? What are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing," he sounded suspiciously hopeful, "Why?"

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come in for dinner, considering I don't have anyone else to cook for." His eyes lit up like the fourth of July. Then they died down just a bit.

"That sounds awesome, but promise not to kill me if I tell you something?"

"Ok. . ." it came out suspicious and guarded.

"Well, there's another bonfire tonight and the guys wanted you to come, but I said we shouldn't ask you because you probably wouldn't want to, but I figured if we're this close I might as well ask you to come anyway."

"Sure. I'll come." I said easily, even though it wasn't on the top of my list of things to do, I would go. The last thing I needed was a pack of shape shifters on my tail. Not to mention if I was going to be hanging out with Paul I needed to make amends with his friends' . . . even that leech. Wait! What did I just think? No, there will be no more hanging out with Paul . . . after tonight.

Paul came into my house. I have to admit I was a little apprehensive, because . . . well, I'm his imprint and what if he didn't like my house. But he made himself right at home. Took off his shoes, sat in the middle of the couch, arms sprawled over the back, feet on the table; the works. Then he patted the spot beside him. I sat down, and he kept his arm around my shoulders.

"So what do you want to do?"

"Try again, Paul. You're the guest; therefore you get to pick what to do."

"Who says therefore anymore?"

"I do. So learn to live with it. Now, done to more important matters; what do you want to do?"

He leaned over and whispered in my ear, sending shivers down my back, "Whatever you want to." I could think of a whole lot of things to do at that moment and they are not fit to print. I had to come up with something fast.

"How about we watch a movie?" I quickly, but subtly, got up and picked a couple of my favourite horror movies. I know I just said my thoughts weren't fit to print, but this was the closest thing I could come up with that was anywhere close to G-rated.

I showed him 3 movies, _Law Abiding Citizen, Shutter Island, _and, _The Crazies_. They were the creepiest movies I had. He immediately picked up _Law Abiding Citizen_ and I raised my eyebrows at him.

"What?" he asked, just a little defensively, "It's a good movie."

"Well, yeah, but I always thought you would be the guy to go for some classic guts and gore, not a psychological movie."

"_Shutter Island_ is way more psychological than this."

"Whatever." I popped the movie in and threw popcorn into the microwave.

I sat down beside Paul and as we watched, whenever we came to a scary part, I would inch closer. It wasn't that I was actually scared, but it was a great excuse to move closer. By the time we got to the part where Gerard Butler blows up the cars, I was nearly in his lap. As I buried my face in his shoulder, He grabbed my legs and swung them around so I was actually sitting in his lap. I was trying to slow down my heart beat. It felt so nice . . . so right. But the other side of me was arguing what the Gods would think. Then I came to a grand conclusion. . . it's my life not theirs.

Paul and I watched the whole movie, and once it ended, neither of us moved. The popcorn was gone and it was about 6:30, so I decided it would be a good idea to get up and make dinner, knowing Paul would be starving. Wrong idea. I tried to get up, but something pulled me back down and I felt his whisper on the side of my ear.

"Just where do you think you're going?" I had to try and ignore the shivers it sent down my spine, and focus on what he was saying.

"Well, I was planning on going to make us dinner, but if you don't want food that's fine." I looked at him and I could feel the small gleam in my eye. I knew I had won. Then he put on that ridiculously adorable puppy face, the one he was so freaking good at. And I lost.

"Fine. You win." He smirked. Like a genuinely evil, mischievous smirk. I narrowed my eyes. Then I got an idea. I remembered having a brief conversation with Kim. I looked up at Paul through my eyelashes and batted them fiercely and said in a small innocent tone, "Paul, could you please let me up?" I felt his hold around my lace loosen and I got up. Then he shook his head as if to clear it and said, "Hey! No fair!"

I chuckled and turned around to look back at him, "Life isn't fair. Get used to it." And with that, I turned to the kitchen and started to make fettuccine alfredo for ten people. One serving for me and the other nine for Paul.

**A/N: What did you think? Good, bad, in between? Let me know if you think it was too short or whatever. I am trying to keep them within 4-6 pages on a word document, so they don't take 3 hours to read. Please let me know what you think, and if you have any ideas for future chapters, or if you think I should include something else, or if you think this story sucks, or whatever. All you have to do is press the button. Yeah, you know the one. Right there. You can't miss it. It says 'Review' right on it. Just click it.**


	5. Bonfires and Brothers

**A/N: Brownie points to . . . **_**Ready123, Dark Chocolat, MadToTheBone1, ohlivtree, christy1296, sailingchick16, danie568, Donna A-Dale-Harkness, **_**and **_**cottlover11 **_**for alerting/favourite-ing me this chapter! :D Thanks! And to my lovely reviewers of course:**

_**Ready123: **_**Thanks! And I think you're right. I will try and see how it goes! Thanks for the input! It won't happen in this chapter but I will try for the next one! :D **

_**MadToTheBone1: **_**lol here's the next chapter! And thanks a lot! :D It means a lot that you like this story so much! :D**

**_MadToTheBone1: _Srry for changing the chapter on you, but it was pretty random so I changed it. Srry!**

_**Fantasylover111: **_**Thanks! And I will don't worry! I have a plan in my head! :D**

**_MyHeroTheSeaweedBrain:_ thanx for the heads up on the name change! And I love the new name lmfao! :D**

_**Nico Rocks**_**: Here you go! haha I love your reviews! **

**And here we go . . . **

**Chapter 4: Bonfires and Brothers**

**Atlanta's POV**

After our lovely pasta dinner, Paul and I did the best thing; nothing. We sat on the couch and talked. I learned about his mom, who I was a little nervous to meet, and about how his dad had abandoned him.

"You must know what that's like. I saw your dad at the bonfire the other day." I stayed silent. My dad was actually my favourite parent. Obviously he wasn't there to do the parental stuff, but he did way more than my mom.

"Actually, my mom was the worst." Paul looked at me like I had three heads. I let out a small smile. "My dad didn't have a choice, but he watched over me anyway. My mom had the choice and kicked me out of this town as soon as she could. If it hadn't been for the fact I was half-"

"What do you mean 'this town'?" Oops. That one slipped out.

"Didn't I mention I'm from La Push?" My voice was everything except convincing, and he just sent me a look that said, 'Bullshit'. Sigh, why did I have to get stuck with the smartass.

"Yeah. Must have slipped your mind or something. Now, explain." I just stared at him. "Please."

"Well, my mom's not from here. She lived in Seattle when she met my dad. After she had me, she got fed up with the big city, said it reminded her too much of him. So we moved out here. Then she kicked me out. That's basically my story. I'll tell the rest of it at the bonfire, because it's too long to repeat twice."

"Alright," he said extremely reluctantly. It was 6:45, so we had to head down there anyway. As if she could read my thoughts, Kim knocked on the door. I grabbed my converse and we went down to the beach. As Nessie walked up I tensed, but didn't say anything. We stared at each other for a bit, before I nodded my head to the side. She nodded and we set off. We walked down the beach until we were out of hearing range.

"K, so we need to call a truce. I don't like you being a bloodsucker, obviously, but if we are hanging out with the same group of people, than we need to get along. I am not opposed to you personally, but I have been trained to kill your kind and their origins. Obviously you have a truce with the shifters, and I respect that and will abide by it as long as you and your coven follow the same rules."

"Fair enough. But listen to one thing, half-blood, that includes that if any of your little friends come visit you have to keep them under control."

"I'll work on it. I can guarantee that my brother and his friends will be fine with that, but there are some people that are out to get me and I can't guarantee for them."

"Fine. We have an agreement then." She stuck out her hand and I shook it. We started to talk on the way back, and she spoke of her family, and in a way I related to it. Just trying to fit into a world that wasn't made for you. Yeah, I definitely related to it. By the time we reached the bonfire, we were laughing and chatting like old friends. I found that I actually liked her. Weird. Some campers would run me through with a sword if they heard that.

When we reached the bonfire, the elders had already arrived. We sat with our respected shifters, and the tribal legends began. I had heard them briefly from Chiron, but this was a whole different experience. The way Billy, Jake's dad, told them . . . it just made them come to life. Mind you, they were real, but it seemed like you could see it happening right in front of you. It was mind-boggling.

When the tribe legends were done, Sam stood up and faced me.

"Atlanta, we have all agreed it was time for you to share your story with us." I kind of figured this was coming tonight. I let out a very heavy sigh and got up from my position on Paul's lap to stand in front of them. I needed pacing room when telling my story.

"So, I am a half-blood. Now I know you probably have no idea what this means, but hear my story before you say anything. I will answer all questions after.

First of all, you have to know about the Greek Gods. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades are the 'Big Three'. Their father, Cronus, was the Titan lord of time, and he was evil until they destroyed him. But that comes in later. Basically when any of the gods come down to earth and fall in love with a mortal, half-blood's are born. Demi-god is the technical term. So I am a daughter of Poseidon, one of the 'Big Three'. I have 2 half-brothers, Percy, who is 15, and Tyson, who is . . . I'm not sure how old because he's a Cyclops, but that's not the point. Anyway, my dad came down and met my mom and I showed up a year later. So after I was born, my mom raised me like any normal kid, even though she knew I was far from it. We moved from a big city to a small town for a change of scenery. When I was 7 she realized how different I was and how much I put her in danger. She hated me for it; hated me for reminding her of my dad. So, she kicked me out.

I found refuge with kids my own age on the street; never staying in one place for more than a week. I found some weapons and did things I'm not proud of, but you do what you have to do to survive. Then I made my way to camp, and I grew up there. I've been out on a lot of quests and got trapped in the freaking Lotus Hotel and Casino! The worst part was I knew it was a trap! And what do I do? I walk right into it!" By this time I was so mad at myself I had started pacing ferociously and throwing my hands around. I clenched my fists and calmed myself down.

"Anyway, after I got out, with a little help, I found out about Percy and the prophecy. Everyone knows the prophecy was always meant for Percy, but that just makes me feel even worse because I'm supposed to be able to protect him. Of course there is also the fact that some people, I'm not going to mention names, (cough cough) Gods (cough, cough), wanted to kill him, but that wouldn't stop the prophecy from happening, because there would be more kids." The sea, the sky, and the earth roared as I said the last sentence. "You can't stop a prophecy." The sea and sky stopped. _Mhm, that's what I thought. Ugh, gods are so temper mental. _"I, personally, find it kind of ironic that Hades was the only one to keep the promise. So . . . that is the basics of my life. Any questions?"

Of course, everyone started talking at once and then started yelling, trying to be heard over everyone else. I stood up on one of the logs they use to sit on.

"EVERYONE NEEDS TO SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN!" It worked. "Now, we are going to do this classroom style. Raise your hand, I will call on you. No interrupting." I spoke with such conviction and authority in my voice that no one questioned it and they all behaved. It started out with little questions, 'how did your parents meet?' yatta yatta yatta, and then the more serious questions came.

"Where did your mom grow up?

"Actually, she lived in Seattle until she had me." I shuffled my feet, "Then she moved to La Push." That got everyone's attention. It was dead silent . . . literally. I heard more sound in the Underworld.

Then Sam asked, "Where'd she move to?"

I felt a small smile on the corner's of my lips at the memory. "The little house down the street from the fire hall. I'm not really sure what happened to her though. For all I know she could be dead." The pack was speechless as Sam continued to speak.

"That's . . . that's the house my aunt and uncle live in."

I looked up at him, my eyes wide. "Like I said, I have no idea what happened to her."

"Was her name Melody?"

I just continued to stare wide-eyed in shock. There was no way she could still be here after all this time! My dad would've told me! Unless he didn't know . . .

Everyone stared at me. Oh my gods. I looked passed them out to the sea. I couldn't believe this. But at least I wasn't actually related to him. . . technically, right? Before I could think anymore on it, I saw a couple little dots in the distance approaching fast. I squinted. Blackjack and Porkpie? What are they doing? Then I realized Percy, Annabeth, and Grover were on their backs. I smiled big as I thought of seeing my brother and his friends again. Then they came closer and I realized something. Percy was slouched over onto Blackjack's neck. He wasn't hanging on or anything. Percy wouldn't do that. Something was wrong. I started to run down the beach toward them, but was stopped as Sam stepped into my path.

"Sam, move." He didn't, but I didn't have time for this. Percy was injured and he needed to get into the water, and Blackjack couldn't just go diving into the water, he had to land. And I was going to be there when he landed, because Percy wouldn't be able to hold on through that. I stepped back about ten paces, then turned and did a double back flip over Sam. I felt all of them chase me down the shore line, and I got to Blackjack just as he landed. Just in time to catch Percy as he fell.

I could feel Blackjack's and Porkpie's anxiety. Blackjack's more than anyone's though. It felt like he was about to cry.

_**I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. I should've taken better care of him—**_

"Blackjack, breathe. It's fine he just needs the water. Here give him to me. What happened?"

_**I'm sorry. He-he j-just—**_

I knew Blackjack was having a hard time getting this out, and I needed to know now. "Porkpie?"

_They were on their way out, trying to get past Cerberus. Whoever said that dog was all bark and no bite needs to rethink his logic._

Even now Porkpie could come up with something sarcastic to say. But Percy . . . Bitten by Cerberus. Shit. That would take a lot of healing time and a lot of saltwater. "How long has it been since he was bitten? And has he been in the water at all?"

_Maybe an hour . . . ?_

_**We put him in the nearest river we could find in L.A. but nothing. **_I heard Blackjack sniffle as he tried to fight back tears."Rivers won't do anything for him in this condition. He needs saltwater." I took Percy under his arms and dragged him to the edge of the water, just far enough out so the tide wouldn't take him in.

I felt the difference in him as soon as he hit the water. He didn't wake up from unconsciousness, but I could sense him better. I knew the water was working its magic, so I turned back to check on the others. Blackjack and Porkpie were standing, waiting for the verdict; Annabeth and Grover were standing waiting for me. As I got closer Porkpie and Blackjack inclined their heads to show respect for the whole _'your-dad-is-our-creator-so-you-are-our-superior'_ thing.

"Now, guys, what have I said about the whole bowing thing?"

_**Sorry.**_

_Sorry._

I let out a small laugh, like they would ever get used to not bowing. Then, I turned to Annabeth and Grover. Grover's face was fully showing his distress, anxiousness, and guilt. I drew him into a hug.

"Percy's going to be fine, don't worry. And this wasn't your fault. It was the idiot's own fault." That got a small smile out of him.

Annabeth. She was always hard to figure out unless you knew her really, really, REALLY, well. Luckily, I did. The way she stood and the look on her face said she didn't care at all. But if you took the time to notice how she tried too hard to keep it that way, and how she stood as still as a statue, you knew. She was even more torn up about this than Grover; she just hated to show weakness. I grasped her into the tightest hug known to man or beast. For half a second, she didn't move. Then she held me just as tight, her body rocked with silent sobs. When she finally pulled back and wiped her tears, she gave me a small smile.

Suddenly, Percy stirred. I heard him groan, and then turned to face him as he tried to stand up. Tried to stand up.'Tried' being the key word in that sentence. As he got to his feet, he fell back down into the sand almost immediately. I'm not going to lie, being the big sister that I am . . . I laughed. I burst into the biggest fit of giggles. Actually rolling on the ground laughing at him. How nice am I? Grover nearly jumped on the idiot in pure relief; Annabeth even had to stifle a giggle of her own, though I knew she was rejoicing at the thought of my brother being okay . . . though I would never tell her I knew of her little secret crush.

I walked over to Percy and helped him stand. He leaned on me heavily. He looked over at me with tired eyes, and then cringed at the look on my face. I may have been laughing at him, but he was still going to get it. He had no idea how much he had scared me. Seeing him like that was horrible. He was my little brother. He seemed untouchable. Nothing bad could happen to him as long as he was my little brother . . . most of the time at least. I was going to have a big long rant session with him after this. He couldn't say anything about it because I distinctly remember telling him to be careful and he said he would be fine. Is he fine? No. I handed him over to Annabeth, knowing that they would want to be as close to each other as possible, even if they didn't realize it yet.

I nearly forgot that the pack was there, until I felt Annabeth and Percy tense beside me, and go perfectly still, other than the small movement of Annabeth's hand reaching back to her pocket for her hat, or seeing Percy's hand move the slightest bit in his pocket ready to uncap Riptide at a moment's notice, even though he was still injured. It was impossible not to see Grover's movement. He skittered back very noisily not even trying to hide his alarm. I sighed. Annabeth and Percy looked at me. I rolled my eyes and nodded. They both relaxed, and headed toward the fire. I felt Paul stand beside me. I turned to look at him.

His eyes were full of confusion, obviously, concern over me, and worst of all, there was a little hurt in there. The emotion cut right through my soul. I felt like I was being pulled into Tartarus itself, and I wouldn't mind because it would get me away from the pain. He couldn't believe I had hidden this big of a past from him. He was also in pain over how much I had put myself through. I looked away, not bearing to see it anymore. He turned and walked back to the fire. Shit. Another thing to deal with.

I turned to the matter at hand. Grover. He was still skittering, though the noise had stopped. I could hear the others at the bonfire making small talk with my brother and Annabeth. Trying to pretend not to pay attention to what I was doing. I moved toward Grover slowly.

"Grover?" He looked at me, shook his head, and bleated, not even able to make words.

"Come on, Grover. She's not like the _empousa's._ She's like, a whole other species. Give her a chance." But Grover would not budge to logic so I tried blackmail.

"Look. Grover, if you want to stay here, you have to put up with it. I don't care how uncomfortable it is, if you want to stay in this town for so much as an hour, you will learn to get along with her and her family." He looked at me, his eyes pleading, but being a big sister really makes you learn how to stand your ground . . . especially when your little brother decides to steal your diary. Yes, I am ruthless in battle, but I'm still a girl. And he was still my annoying little brother. I had lived with him two summers at camp and he stole it all the time. Until I got the Stoll brothers to boobie trap it. That was just funny. Back to the task at hand . . .

Finally Grover nodded.

"Yeah, I'll learn to put up with it," he mumbled.

"Good satyr." I patted his head. He glared at me all the way back to the bonfire. Great . . . now the story-telling truly begins . . . we could be here ALL night . . .

**A/N: What'd you think? Please let me know! Hit the review button . . . yeah that one right there. . . good, now left click.  
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	6. Pranks, Pricelessness, and Punishments

**A/N: CHAPTER 5! I consider this one of the saddest chapter's I have ever written. It is a little longer than my other ones, but I think it was worth the time to write it. Please tell me what you think! **

**Chapter 5: Pranks, Priceless-ness, and Punishments**

**Atlanta's POV**

So it's been a week since the bonfire. Everyone is cool with me being a half-blood. My brother, Annabeth, and Grover flew with Blackjack and Porkpie back to camp. Having the pegasi here really made me miss my own winged horse. But, on the up side, Paul and I had a long discussion/argument about why I kept my past hidden, and we are growing closer every day. But I still don't think I should get too involved. But I want to more than anything! When did I turn into such a sappy, conflicted_, __normal_ girl?

Sigh. Why does life have to be so complicated? _Because if it wasn't it would be no fun._ It's true. Even though I hate it when my life gets complicated, it's hilarious messing with other people's lives. Like the Cullen's for instance . . .

"But we can't have Quil over there, because Emmett will get there within two seconds!" Embry argued with me. After a week or so of planning you would think he'd understand I never lose . . . except with Paul, but he cheats!

"But if we don't have Quil there we can't get Nessie! And she's the main target!" Yeah, I know after the whole warning thing you think I wouldn't mess with them. Ha! If you think that you really don't know me!

Embry let out an irritated sigh. "So when do we set this up?"

"Jacob is going over to watch the house while they go hunting at 1 p.m. today. We set it up then for when they get back."

Quil rubbed his hands together and smiled evilly. "This is going to be sweet! Won't Nessie kill you though?"

"Ha! I'd like to see her try. And she'll understand it's all in good fun . . . I hope. I'm more worried about how mad Jake will be about us messing with his imprint. But that's why I'm bringing you guys along."

"Nice to know you're just using us."

"Yeah, it's a nice feeling isn't it?"

And with that we set out to set up our master prank.

* * *

I won't go through the whole process, but let's just say it ended with Nessie and Emmett covered in feathers, looking like chickens. I bet you're wondering how we managed to do that to a vampire. Like I said, we planned it for a week. Of course we were smart enough to only do this to Emmett and Nessie, because the rest of them wouldn't like it too much, well, Emmett didn't like it too much either, but it was just funny to see the big guy like that. We were going to do it to Edward too, just to get a rise out of him, but figured he would just pull it out of our minds and ruin the fun. He got a good chuckle out of seeing his brother and daughter like that, though.

Embry, Quil, and I stepped out of the woods, clutching our sides laughing, before I collapsed onto the lawn, rolling with laughter. Everyone except Emmett and Nessie were laughing.

Emmett just growled, "Atlanta." And it got me laughing even harder. All of a sudden I heard Edward start laughing even harder. I looked up at him and he just looked at me like I was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. And that's when I looked at Nessie. She had this evil glint in her eye, and I knew what was coming. I tried to get up and run, but (and I hate to admit it) I'm no match for a vampire when it comes to speed.

Soon enough, I was covered in feathers too. Perfect. Embry and Quil were just laughing harder now. I looked at Nessie as she looked at me. We had the same idea. She ran at Quil and I ran at Embry. She caught Quil easily and tackled him to the ground, but I had a harder time with Embry. Once I tackled him we were all covered in feathers and laughing so hard we couldn't breathe (not that the Cullen's needed to). Then Edward stopped laughing abruptly. His eyes widened and he looked at me. My laughter died down to giggles. Then he mouthed one word. Jacob. Shit.

My eyes widened and I stood up fast. I turned to him.

"Please tell me the packs coming too?"

"Sam, Seth, Leah, and Paul are coming with him." I sighed in relief. I'd be fine.

"But Sam's not to happy with you after the whole thing at school either, Atlanta." Leave it to Quil to point out a faux-pas in my plan.

"Damn. I'm doomed."

"What thing at the school?" Nessie still hadn't heard about it. I smiled sheepishly. Just before I was about to explain, Edward burst out laughing. I turned to him glaring.

"It wasn't that funny! And I would like to point out, Quil, that it wasn't even me! You two," I pointed to Quil and Embry, "just blamed it on me and I got suspended for 3 days! On my first week of school!" I exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Will somebody explain please?" Nessie may have been a senior at Forks High, but she was still only a year or two old.

"Well, you remember that vandalism that took place in the school hallway. The whole thing that said, 'Principal Matecs screws his staff' . . . yeah, that was the two idiots. Of course who did they blame it on . . . Me! And the stupid idiot of a Principal believed them! Then of course Chiron found out and he had a big hissy fit over it! I swear I don't know why I hang out with them!"

"You're about to wish you hung out with them a lot more often." I froze at the coldness in his voice. Make my funeral pyre now. It was just him and Leah here, because they were the fastest. The others wouldn't be far behind . . . I hoped.

I held my hands up in surrender. "Now, now Jake. Come on. It's all in good fun, nobody got hurt."

"Atlanta." He growled.

Then Paul shot out of the forest and landed in front of me. He growled and crouched low. I sighed and looked at Nessie. She and I simultaneously moved to stand in between them back to back. We had done this many times before. These two always got into fights, because I would do something that would piss Jake off (he hated me since day one when Nessie and I had our little . . . disagreement), then Paul would get mad at him for trying to get me, and then we would end up in the present situation.

Now, I know what you're thinking, _Why don't you just stop pissing him off?_ It's not that easy. It will be the most trivial things. Half the time it's something I say. Like this one time we were talking about the _empousa_, Kellie, and I said, 'Their kind is the worst to kill.' Referring to the _empousa's, _of course. But he took it as vampires, which I would never say that about because the only true vampires I have ever met are Nessie and the Cullens and they are awesome!

Anyway, we were both facing our shifters, and just looked at them. They both calmed down and stood straight. Then Jake came and hit me upside the head.

"You could at least give me warning before you pull one of your stupid pranks, and then I wouldn't have to kill you." I couldn't believe he just said that! But I did get an idea.

"Ok, Jake. That's fair. Truce?" He nodded. I smiled widely. He looked at me suspiciously before I ran up and hugged him. Sucker. Now he was covered in feathers. He just glared at me. But it was a playful glare this time, not the usual I'm-going-to-kill-you-as-soon-as-I-get-the-chance glare. I had a feeling this was the beginning of a true friendship.

"Ok, so now that this love fest is over, and we're all covered in feathers," Embry glared at me, "I'm going to go have a shower."

I couldn't resist. "Yeah, Embry, your first one this year. Are you sure you remember how to turn on the water?" I looked at him, blinking my eyes innocently and he flipped me off as everyone laughed. This was a great day.

As we went to leave, Quil and Embry had Leah, Seth, and Sam in their trucks, while Paul sat in the passenger's seat of my truck. We rode home in silence, until Paul spoke up.

"That was a hell of a prank to pull. It was a pretty good one though."

I chuckled. "Quil, Embry, and I had been planning that one for a while. No harm done so it was amazing!"

We reached my house. Paul had a habit of just chilling here most of the time, a habit his mom didn't mind, as she knew about the whole imprint thing. As we got out we walked up to the door and Paul held it open for me. Once we walked in I turned to him.

"Since when are you such a gentleman?"

He feigned hurt. "I'm always a gentleman."

I laughed. "Yeah right! How about that time you picked me up and threw me over your shoulder?"

"What, you mean like this?" He threw me over his shoulder like a potato sack. I hit his back as I laughed.

"Put me down!" As I felt him about to throw me onto the couch, I grabbed his shoulders and brought him down with me. We both hit the couch and rolled to the floor. I landed on top of him, his face just inches from mine.

I felt my breath hitch in my throat. I tried not to look at his lips, but failed miserably. I leaned down and he lifted his head. As our lips met I felt an electric shock go through my body. It felt amazing. He flipped us over, so he was on top, leaning on his elbows so as not to put his weight on me. I entwined my fingers in his hair, as his hand slid up my side under my shirt, sending tingles through my torso. I let my left hand trail down his bare chest and trace his abs. I felt him shudder. Then we pulled away, both of us breathing hard.

"I've wanted to do that for a long time." His husky voice sending chills through me. The good kind. I kissed him again. Just a light peck this time.

"Good," was all I said, it was all the breath I could muster. He got up and offered a hand to help me. I gladly took it, and he pulled me close to him and hugged me. I took advantage and hugged him back, like I had wanted to do for so long. We stood there like that, arms wrapped around each other, just relishing in the fact that we finally had each other. . . It was priceless . . .

Of course, no one can have those moments forever. I heard the front door open and slam against the wall. I stepped back and sighed. There were only two people who ever did that. Quil and Embry.

"What's up, boys?"

"Well, Atlanta, you see Emily's kitchen is getting re-done, so we came to the nearest house of a pack member," Embry stated, as the rest of the pack and imprints walked in.

Emily peaked through them all shyly, "Hope you don't mind," she said, her hands full of groceries.

I smiled, "Of course not." Then I walked up and grabbed a couple bags from her and led her into the kitchen. I noticed Paul smiling at me and I winked, before disappearing into the kitchen.

Emily caught my wink, and as we worked on dinner she mouthed, 'Are you two official?'

I smiled widely and nodded, not wanting to say anything because we knew they could hear us in the living room.

After having a very filling dinner and hanging with the pack, everyone dispersed. After everyone was gone it was just me and Paul. We had our arms around each other, and our foreheads were pressed together.

"You should go, before your mom sends out a hunt for you."

"Yeah, I guess." But he made no move to leave. I reached up to kiss him lightly on the lips, but he immediately deepened it and I had no complaints. I pressed myself against him and leaned into it.

He pulled back, both of us trying to steady our breathing.

"I guess I should go." And with that he walked out, leaving me breathless behind him. After he left I went and cleaned up the kitchen, before heading up to my room. I pulled a book out from underneath my mattress. It was titled _'Lanta's Songs'_. No one except, me, Annabeth, and Silena Beauregard knew about it. Silena was my best friend at camp. We told each other everything.

I opened the book and began writing. When I was finished I got out my guitar and sang:

I felt I was spinning my wheels  
Before too long the road was calling  
I packed everything I own  
So sure that I was leaving this small town life behind for good  
And not a single tear was falling  
It took leaving for me to understand  
Sometimes your dreams just aren't what life has planned

[Chorus]  
Mama said home is where the heart is  
When I left that town  
I made it all the way to West Virginia  
And that's where my heart found  
Exactly where I'm supposed to be  
It didn't take much time  
It's just south of the Mason Dixon line  
It's just south of the Mason Dixon line

I worked third shift at an all night diner  
Only stayed to save a little money for  
Enough gas to make it to the east coast  
That's when I saw the brightest pair of  
Deep blue eyes walking straight into my life  
And every night we talked till it became so clear  
And I could feel those dreams inside shifting gears  
Cause love brought me here

[Repeat Chorus]

And I'm standing in my veil about to say I do  
As mama smiles with tear drops in her eyes  
And then I realize there's something mama always knew  
Love is what I really left to find

[Repeat Chorus]

As my last guitar strum died off I stared out the window. Singing was my little secret, and I wanted to keep it that way. And I was going to.

* * *

Unfortunately I hadn't been paying enough attention last night when I had brought out my guitar, because the next day at the bonfire, Leah brought out a guitar that looked coincidentally like mine. I eyed it suspiciously as she brought it over. She held it out to me. I looked at her and shook my head.

"Please?" She whispered the word. It was barely audible, but the whole pack turned to look at me in confusion. I glared at her as I grabbed it.

"I hate you. I'm not playing the song you heard last night though. I can't believe you didn't even tell me that it was you!" The little creeper had been outside my window! I picked one of my favourite songs that I had written while in La Push. I wrote it after I had visited the house my mom grew up in. It was abandoned now, but it's the feeling that counts.

I know they say you can't go home again.  
I just had to come back one last time.  
Ma'am I know you don't know me from Adam.  
But these handprints on the front steps are mine.  
And up those stairs, in that little back bedroom  
is where I did my homework and I learned to play guitar.  
And I bet you didn't know under that live oak  
my favorite dog is buried in the yard.

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it  
this brokenness inside me might start healing.  
Out here it's like I'm someone else,  
I thought that maybe I could find myself  
if I could just come in I swear I'll leave.  
Won't take nothing but a memory  
from the house that built me.

Mama cut out pictures of houses for years.  
From 'Better Homes and Garden' magazines.  
Plans were drawn, concrete poured,  
and nail by nail and board by board  
Daddy gave life to mama's dream.

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it  
this brokenness inside me might start healing.  
Out here it's like I'm someone else,  
I thought that maybe I could find myself.  
If I could just come in I swear I'll leave.  
Won't take nothing but a memory  
from the house that built me.

You leave home, you move on and you do the best you can.  
I got lost in this whole world and forgot who I am.

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it  
this brokenness inside me might start healing.  
Out here it's like I'm someone else,  
I thought that maybe I could find myself.  
If I could walk around I swear I'll leave.  
Won't take nothing but a memory  
from the house that built me.

When I ended everyone looked at me in shock.

Kim was the first to speak up, "Oh my god. You wrote that?" At my nod she continued, "It was amazing! Where did you learn to sing?" I looked down a little embarrassed. Paul, who had been sitting beside me, nuzzled his head into my neck.

"You are amazing," he whispered. I smiled a little bit. After that the bonfire went on as normal; the guys stuffing their faces, the imprints chatting, and an overall amazing night.

* * *

When I woke up the next morning, something felt off right away. It was just one of those foreboding feelings, you know when you wake up and you just know it's going to be a bad day. I didn't like it. Usually these feelings were right.

I got up, and got dressed. I had on my dark jean shorts and a plain hot pink V-neck shirt. I threw on my bracelets and flip-flops and as I walked out the door, my dad and Zeus appeared in the backyard. My dad didn't meet my eyes and he looked sad. Zeus just looked . . . well, he's Zeus. Anyway, the only thing that ran through my mind was Percy.

"What happened?" My voice was shaking slightly. I couldn't lose my little brother. My dad looked up and he walked over to me.

"Atlanta, it's not Percy." I let out a huge sigh of relief, then looked at him and then back to Zeus my gaze not lingering long on either one of them for long.

"Then . . . Why are you guys here?" I was thoroughly confused at this point. My dad looked to Zeus; actually it was more like glared, so I looked to Zeus for an explanation.

Zeus sighed. "My brother thoroughly disapproves of this, but we are sending you back to camp. You are proving to be of too much trouble here. Pack your things and North will be here to pick you up in a few hours."

For a moment I couldn't speak. Then I exploded. "What! Why? Why would you do this? I'm finally happy here! This is my home! I belong here! What did I do? What do you mean too much trouble! If you're referring to the school that wasn't even me! Embry and Quil could've done all those pranks on their own! I didn't do anything!" Zeus held up a hand to silence me.

"I was referring to the stunt you pulled a couple days ago. With the Cullens." That was just unfair. They were friends. I always pulled pranks on my friends back at camp and no one said anything about it. All of a sudden it was a problem here!

As if he could read my thoughts Zeus said, "You are jeopardizing the treaty between the shifters and the Gods as well as the shifters and the vampires. None of them will suffer from your departure."

"Someone will." The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. My dad grabbed my hand and squeezed, but I barely noticed. I was focused on Zeus. He looked me straight in the eye and said, "No. No one will mind." And that nearly killed me. I turned and ran back into the house, tears falling down my face. How could they do this? It was like I was bound to be unhappy wherever I went! When I finally found happiness they ripped it out from under me. I saw a flash of silver light out of the corner of my eye as Zeus and Poseidon disappeared. I gazed out my window before packing my things. Tears were still freely falling down my cheeks. Being a daughter of the God of the sea, I had a lot of water in me. After all my stuff was packed, I went and got my bow out of my truck. I sat in it for a minute before whispering, "I'll be back for you after."

I walked out my backyard and sat on the cliff. I assumed the pack had noticed me because they all came up to get me. The minute they were in seeing distance they started running to me, Paul getting there first. He knelt beside me.

"What happened?"

I barely whispered my reply. "I'm leaving." I couldn't bear to look at any of them. But to my horror, I saw Paul out of the corner of my eye. He looked like I just hit him. They were all silent.

Embry managed to stutter out, "Wh-What! Why?"

My voice was still a whisper, "Because I'm jeopardizing the treaties."

"Bullshit!" We were all surprised by Nessie's outburst. "If anything you've made them stronger! My whole family loves you like their own! How could they do that?" She glared up at the sky then.

I felt a small smile pull at the corners of my mouth. "Careful your dad doesn't hear you say that. He'd throw a fit." She let a small smile loose to. I stood up as I saw North approaching. It was good to see my pegasus again, even under the circumstances. I turned to them.

"I guess this is goodbye." My voice nearly cracked.

Nessie and Kim ran up to me and held me tight as I held them. We were all crying as we pulled back. Then Emily came up and gave me a big motherly hug. Sam came and hugged me tight, the two of them were like surrogate parents. Leah came and stood in front of me, both of us looking at each other before rushing into a hug. She had become like a sister to me, even if she was a bitch sometimes. Collin and Brady both gave me gentle hugs and as Seth hugged me he nearly cried. Jared came and gave me a big brotherly hug, as did Jake.

Then I turned Paul.

He looked as if someone had just run over his dog. I ran to him and he scooped me up in his arms as I clung to him, sobs rocking my body. He nuzzled his face into my hair. I knew he was crying as I felt the tears on my neck. That just made me cry harder. North came and rested her muzzle on my side reminding me she was ready to go. I pulled back, also putting a stop to my sobs as I looked into his eyes. I went up on my tiptoes and gave him one last kiss. Then I stepped back and mounted North. She took off and I was determined not to look back.

North was pure black with a white star as bright as the North Star on her forehead. Hence her name. She was a pegasus I had grown to love at camp, and we shared a connection much like Blackjack and Percy, but ours went a little deeper. I cried into her shoulder as we flew.

_**Don't cry, little one. You will see them again someday. Shhh, there, there. The Gods never were ones to think of emotion. We'll wreak havoc at camp and they'll have to send you back!**_

That got a small smile from me. "Thank you, North, but I'm not sure I have the heart to wreak havoc anymore. My heart stayed back on that cliff." With that we slipped into silence until we got to camp. I took a deep breath before walking through the magical border, readying myself for the conversations to come, trying to steal myself against my emotions. It wasn't working very well, but I had to deal with it. And with that I stepped through the border into the bane of my existence.

**Paul's POV**

As she told me she was leaving I couldn't breathe. No. I finally had my imprint, it was finally official and they take her from me. No. Why did fate hate me so much! I watched as she hugged everyone. She didn't realize how much she had changed our world, not just mine, but everyone's. I mean, look at Nessie, she's finally relaxed around us, and Kim is going around talking to everyone. Jake has finally realized Nessie can take care of herself. Atlanta was the sun to everyone. She kept the clouds and worries away, always providing a laugh when anyone needed it. Sam had even loosened up and stopped worrying about the borders as much. Hell, Leah even wasn't as bitchy with Atlanta around.

She turned to me. As she ran to me I held her as tight as I could without breaking a rib as her body shook with sobs. I felt tears sliding down my cheeks too. This couldn't be happening! As her pegasus came up behind her she stepped back and kissed me lightly, one last time. I couldn't bear it. It took all of my strength to let her go. As she flew away, I fell to my knees, not having the will to stand anymore. Kim came over to kneel next to me.

"You can't give up yet Paul. You'll see her again. We all will. Just give it time. Don't let yourself go." She got up and walked away. She was right. If Atlanta could see me right now she would be glaring at me. How could I give up on the woman I loved so much? I got up to my feet and went for a run. It cleared my head a bit, and gave me a plan of action . . .

**A/N: It's a bit of a cliff hanger, but I like it. Isn't it sad? Please review!  
**


	7. Maybe It's Not That Bad

**A/N: CHAPTER 6! I would like to send out brownie points to . . . **_**firefly-256, yumifan101 LizzStorys99, vampireangel168, **_**and**_** NicoLuvr**_**!**

_**ohlivtree: **_**I know! Isn't it sad! :'(**

_**MadToTheBone1: **_**Ok I have to say I absolutely LOVE that saying! Thanks and they are pretty mean aren't they!**

_**MyHeroTheSeaweedBrain:**_** I know! I thought it would be kind of cool to right that because it wouldn't normally happen! :D Thanks!**

_**skye3197**_**: Don't worry, here is the next chapter! :D I'm sorry this chapter took so long, I was at a lacrosse tournament! :D **

**Anyway . . . **

**Chapter 6: Maybe It's Not That Bad**

**Atlanta's POV**

Walking through the magical border of Camp Half-Blood wouldn't have been so bad . . . except apparently every half-blood had heard what was going on and decided to be standing there the second I walked in. And I mean everyone.

Silena was the first to reach me as I tried to keep my head held high, my face blank. She gave me a hug and a reassuring squeeze, and then walked beside me as I walked through the crowd to my cabin. No one bothered me; it was more like they were there just to see if I would break down. I wouldn't. Not in front of them at least.

I walked into my cabin, Silena beside me, Annabeth, Percy, and Grover behind us. The door closed and if it hadn't been for Silena I probably would've been on the ground as my legs gave way, but she caught me in a hug, and I hugged her back, relishing in the fact that I had a shoulder to cry on . . . even if it wasn't the shoulder I wanted.

After a few minutes, I composed myself enough to look at the three young ones; Percy looked worried as Tartarus; Grover looked as if he might cry with me; and Annabeth looked sympathetic and a little pissed off at the same time. I wouldn't have guessed why until she said something to me.

"Thalia's here too. She came to talk to me about . . ." She let herself trail off, but I knew what she was saying. I'm not sure, but I think Silena had a pretty good idea too. Percy and Grover were clueless, of course, but they would never have guessed, they're guys after all.

The Hunters of Artemis were recruiting.

Thalia wanted Annabeth to join.

Naturally, of course, it was her choice, but she depended on a lot of people to help her. Me, mostly. She couldn't talk about this to Percy or Grover, they wouldn't understand. Obviously she couldn't talk to Thalia, and Silena was out of the question. That left me. And here I was blubbering like an idiot, when she needed me most. I took a deep breath, and turned to Silena, Grover, and Percy.

"Could you give us a minute?" Grover and Silena looked hesitant, but left. Percy wasn't so cooperative.

"Why? This is as much my cabin as yours, and Annabeth's my friend too."

"Percy," I sighed, "I know, but this is girl stuff, and we can't use the Athena cabin, there are too many people." He was still pissed, but didn't say a word, turned on his heel, and walked out.

I sighed again, and mumbled, "Great, another thing to deal with later."

I turned to Annabeth, and she nearly fell into my arms. I held her tight. After a little bit she let go, but I still held her shoulders. We went and sat on my bed, the top bunk; our feet dangling off the side.

"I don't know what to do. The Hunters of Artemis are amazing, but to swear off anything to do with men? I mean, other than my dad, I wouldn't be able to even visit anyone. . ." She trailed off. That gave me an idea.

"Like Percy?" She looked at me like I was crazy.

"Pft, yeah right. Like I would go visit Seaweed Brain anyway." *_Sigh* Why are young people so oblivious?_

"Annabeth, you know you would. Face it, you like him. As in more than a friend." She looked at me, appalled. Then it hit her. She finely realized it herself. And then she did something I would never expect. She scowled. I gave her a questioning and slightly confused look. I mean, I found Percy annoying but he was still my brother and a pretty great guy.

"It doesn't matter anyway. He's got _**Rachel**_." She said the name as if it was poison on her tongue. As if this Rachel was worse than Dionysus himself. I raised my eyebrow at her.

"Ask your brother." Oh. She was jealous. I would have to see Percy and ask him all about how he got a girlfriend and didn't tell me. I let the subject drop though, knowing I would only anger her further and we wouldn't get anywhere with the problem at hand.

"What are you going to tell Thalia?" That made the scowl drop right of her face and she hung her head in defeat.

"I don't know. I don't want to join, but you saw what happened with Zoe and Thalia the first time they were recruiting. I can't let that happen with Thalia and me. Maybe it would be better to just join. I mean, Percy has . . . her . . . and it's not like I want another guy, so maybe it would be smart." Ok, now it was my turned to be pissed off.

"You have got to be kidding me." She turned her head to look at me, surprised by my tone. "Annabeth, you are seriously going to give up on my brother just like that. I mean, I know he's an idiot, but that just means you have to try harder. Get your but up off the floor, go find him and talk to him about Rachel. I don't know who the hell she is, but I can guarantee that you are way better for Percy than her. Now, why are you still here?" She looked at me for a second, then got a small smile on her face and bolted out the door.

At least somebody's love life was going to work out.

Of course, that thought just brought it all back. I grabbed my guitar and ran for the creek.

Most people go on and on about how music is a great way to express your emotions and stuff, and it's true. I always played my guitar, whether I was happy or sad, anxious or tired. And right now, I needed that release. The creek was the one spot at camp, other than the ocean, where I could think the best and get most of my thoughts sorted out. Seeing as how I couldn't go to the ocean, because there would be too many people around, I sat on the creek bed, cross-legged, my feet just touching the water. And when I was comfortable, I started to think about what had happened.

I hated the Gods for it, but I understood that peace was very important to them. I still hated this more than anything though. I felt like I was split in two. I wasn't my real self because have of me was on the west coast in a little town called La Push. I missed everyone else like crazy too! But Paul mostly, and thinking about him, even if I was never going to see him again, I was happy. Sure, I could feel the tears running down my face, but there was a smile on my lips. And that is what inspired me . . . to do two things actually.

The first one, obviously, was write a song. I didn't bring my guitar out here for nothing. It took me about an hour and a half, and by that time it was around 5:30.

Sha-la-la-la-la  
Sha-la-la-la-la

You used to call me your angel  
Said I was sent straight down from Heaven  
You'd hold me close in your arms  
I loved the way you felt so strong  
I never wanted you to leave  
I wanted you to stay here holding me

I miss you, I miss your smile  
And I still shed a tear every once and a while  
And even though it's different now  
You're still here somehow  
My heart will let you go, and I need you to know  
I miss you, sha-la la la la, I miss you

You used to call me your dreamer  
And now I'm livin' out my dream  
Oh how I wish you could see  
Everything that's happening for me  
I'm thinking back on the past  
It's true that time is flying by too fast

I miss you, I miss your smile  
And I still shed a tear every once and a while  
And even though it's different now  
You're still here somehow  
My heart won't let you go, and I need you to know  
I miss you, sha-la la la la, I miss you

I know you're in a better place, (yeah)  
But I wish that I could see your face (oh)  
I know you are where you need to be  
Even though it's not here with me

I miss you, I miss your smile  
And I still shed a tear every once and a while  
And even though it's different now  
You're still here somehow  
My heart won't let you go, and I need you to know  
I miss you, sha-la la la la

I miss you, I miss your smile  
And I still shed a tear every once and a while  
And even though it's different now  
You're still here somehow  
My heart won't let you go, and I need you to know  
I miss you, sha-la la la la, I miss you

It was perfect. I loved it and it was amazing. Even I could tell, and I'm always subconscious about my voice. Hence the reason that I wouldn't normally sing in front of everyone at the bonfires; except for the one time Leah made me.

The second thing? Easy. I grabbed one of the many sand dollars I had, and through it into the water. I knew they would be at the bonfire right now, even if it was still light out. And I was right.

When the water showed me the bonfire I was so happy to see they were all there. And they were having a good time. Some people would expect me to be all 'Oh they should be missing me,' yatta, yatta, yatta, but I didn't want them to be sad about it. And they weren't. Except for Paul. The guy looked like he'd seen better days. I wanted to see that mischievous smirk on his lips again, to see him laughing with his friends. But I knew I couldn't do anything from here right now.

Then something happened that made me wanted to try and jump through the water to get back there.

Out of nowhere a figure was running toward the bonfire. When she got there, I wanted to jump through and strangle her.

Mitsy.

My sworn enemy . . . at least, in high school.

You know those popular girls? The one that's bitchy to everybody, even their 'friends'? Yeah, that was Mitsy. And it pissed me off so much that she was there. Like, so much I was absolutely trembling with rage. I forced myself to take deep breaths and watch.

She walked calmly up to the bonfire, and waved.

"Hey, guys." Everyone looked at her and waved back halfheartedly. As if they didn't want her here, but had no excuse to tell her to leave yet. Ha-ha, sucker. She would be tossed soon . . . I hoped.

"Hi, Paul," she said, a little too seductively for my liking. But, fortunately, Paul was sitting leaning against one of the many logs used to sit on, staring at the fire. He glanced her way and barely nodded an acknowledgement. I felt myself smirk. Like hell she would get him. I don't care if I had to go behind the Gods to fly down to La Push and make sure she stayed away.

"I hope you guys don't mind me stopping by, I saw the fire from my house and came down to see who it was." Bullshit. Everyone knew the pack had a bonfire at the beach every week. She just hadn't been invited, and since I was gone she thought she had an opening to get Paul. And even though I knew I shouldn't be, I was slightly concerned.

Sam was the only one who spoke, seeing as how he and Emily were the only ones who didn't go to school with Mitsy and didn't know what she was really like. "No problem, Mitsy. Why don't you come join us?"

"I would love that, Sam. Thanks!" All the while, the pack was glaring at her, although it was discreet. I was forcing myself to take deep breaths, and reminding myself I couldn't kill her from here the whole time she walked over to Paul.

As she sat down beside him she shivered and leaned into him. I growled. I knew all too well how nice that particular warm shoulder was when you were cold, because that shoulder was Paul's, and Paul was MINE. _And yet who's the one watching and who's the one leaning on his shoulder_, that little voice in my head said, but I quickly shut it up. That wasn't the point. I was his imprint, and she was a slut. There is a difference, and she was going to find out that difference real soon if she didn't stop, because North was only a whistle away and I could be there within the hour; half an hour if North really wanted to fly fast for me.

He barely moved, and it was discreet, but I noticed because I was watching them so intently. Paul's shoulder moved just the slightest bit to shrug her off, without making her feel bad. He was trying to be courteous and not embarrass her, but she didn't take the hint. I felt like screaming at her, but I knew she wouldn't hear me. I knew Paul would try the discreet thing again, but apparently Nessie and Kim had seen enough.

Kim started, trying to make Mitsy understand without saying anything bad.

"Look, Mitsy, we really think it was nice of you to come see who was down here, but we think you're getting the wrong idea—"

Nessie was quick to squash that idea though.

"No, we know you're getting the wrong idea. Paul is not up for grabs, and in case you didn't notice the discreet shoulder shrug, it means 'get the hell off my arm'! Which means, maybe you should leave!"

Mitsy looked hurt. To Emily and Sam it probably looked like a genuine hurt, but the rest of us knew better.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry I w-was so m-much t-t-trouble," she cried as she ran off down the beach. Paul was looking up at Nessie, that smirk I loved so much on his face, and a new found respect for her in his eyes. I smiled. And it wasn't a little happy ghost of a smile; it was a huge oh-yeah-he's-mine-and-I'm-proud-of-it smile.

But, of course, I seemed to have forgotten Sam and Emily. Emily shook her head disapprovingly at Nessie. "I realize that bugged you, Nessie. Mitsy was all over Paul, but you didn't have to yell at the poor girl."

Someone snorted and I was surprised to see it come from Kim, who had just been trying to let Mitsy down easily. Until I realized that she was being nice so she wouldn't get the lecture that was coming.

"Mitsy's hardly a 'poor girl,' Emily. And, excuse my language, she's the bitch and slut of the school all rolled into one, as well as Atlanta's mortal enemy. Not to mention, she's been trying to get Paul since the beginning of summer, and it only intensified once Atlanta came."

Emily looked shocked. Kim was never one to say something like that. Jared wrapped his arms around Kim from behind, as Sam tightened his hold on Emily's waist. Jacob had his arm around Nessie's shoulders, ready if need be.

My Paul stood up. "Seems kind of ironic how, now that I have an imprint," he stressed the word, "You guys are all fighting instead of me. Don't you think?" With that he walked off down the beach, the opposite way Mitsy ran I would like to add. He was right though. And he didn't even stick around to see the surprise on everyone's face.

The water stopped and I still had that smile on my face. I was so happy I was his imprint. And he was himself still, as if he knew that he hadn't really lost me. And that got me wondering what exactly was going through his head.

But I didn't have much time to dwell on it, because Annabeth came running. She looked worried. I stood up as fast as I could.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm scared to tell Thalia." I tried not to roll my eyes. I knew it was a big deal for her to admit to being scared but really that's what she was worried about?

"Please come with me, Atlanta?" She was doing the damned puppy dog pout; although, Paul does it much better.

"Fine, but that means we do it now." She looked panicked.

"But—"

"No buts. Now. Let's go." We walked back to camp and found Thalia. She gave me a big hug before turning to Annabeth. She had hope in her eyes.

Annabeth looked to the ground, unable to say anything to her friend.

"Thalia . . ." I hoped she would catch on. Thalia face grew into a concerned look as she glanced back and forth between us. Then it dawned on her. Her face became a blank mask with a voice to match.

"Why?"

Annabeth finally looked up and looked her friend in the eye. "You know why." Her voice was small, barely above a whisper. So Thalia knew about her little crush on Percy.

Thalia's mask broke. Her face was astonished and hurt. Her voice a whisper, barely audible. "You're choosing him over me. . ." Before she could say anymore I jumped in to save the conversation.

"It's not a question of choosing sides, Thalia. This is how Annabeth feels, and that doesn't mean that she doesn't cherish your friendship. And she needs friendship right now." Thalia and Annabeth both looked at me, then at each other. Annabeth's look was apologetic and a little desperate, while Thalia's look was all understanding.

Another save. My day actually hadn't been that bad once I got back, except I can't go shopping with Leah tomorrow like I had planned. At least helping others got my mind off my own problems for a while. Now, how was I going to get back to La Push?

**A/N: Hope you liked it! Let me know! Please review! And I will try and update soon!**


	8. Oh My Fucking Gods

**A/N: CHAPTER 7! Hope everyone likes it! Please tell me what you think! I would like to send out brownie points to . . . **_**DoubleAA**_

_**ohlivtree: **_**ha. I know exactly what you mean! :D**

_**MadToTheBone1: **_**ha-ha Thanks!**

_**MyHeroTheSeaweedBrain:**_** Thanks! I hope this chapter is better! :D**

_**NicoLuvr: **_**Ha-ha here you go! :D Hope you like it! :D**

**Anyway . . .**

**Chapter 7: Oh. My. Fucking. Gods.**

**Atlanta's POV**

I was so glad everything had worked out between everyone, but when I went to bed that night, I couldn't help but feel a little depressed. While I sat in bed, shivering, I thought about Paul, and how I would never sit in his arms again, how I would never wake up in his arms and see him staring down at me, a small smile on his face, how we would never do the things I wished so badly to . . . how we would never have the future I always dreamed about. As I thought about all this, I could feel the silent tears rolling down my cheeks, the silent sobs racking my body. That was my biggest secret, a secret no one knew about and no one probably ever would. Every night for the past week I had been at camp, I had been my normal cheery sarcastic self during the day, going on as if nothing had happened, as if it had just been a normal vacation. And everyone had gone along with it, not seeing my pain, but once I got into bed at night, the pain would hit me and I would cry. I was sure Percy had noticed, but he wisely kept his mouth shut about it. And as I fell asleep I dreamt about my dirty little secret.

_It was just a young couple sitting on the beach, looking no more than twenty-five, the sand in their toes, and the wind in their hair. They were sitting on a classic red and white checkered picnic blanket. As they were sitting you could hear a little scream and you could see two young children racing down the beach toward the couple._

"_Stop it! Ma, make him leave me alone! He's being a bully!" The little girl had the tan skin to match her parents, with the brightest sea blue eyes, that twinkled with mischief, and pure black locks running down her shoulders. She was the spitting image of her mother._

"_Oh, you're such a baby! Why do you always go crying to Ma?" The boy had skin just like his younger sister, but his eyes were a lovely deep green, and his hair pin straight with a Justin Beiber cut. The black hair fell just above his eyes. He looked as much like his father, as his sister like her mother._

_The little girl fell into her mother's lap and curled up against her, while sticking her tongue out at her older brother. Their mother laughed, causing a small twinkle in their father's eyes as he watched her._

"_Hayley, you know better than to come running and still tease Jeremy! You pick one or the other, you have to play fair. And since you decided to tease him . . ." Her mom picked the little girl up, and threw her over her shoulder. The woman started running towards the ocean, the little girl screaming little giggles the whole time, while trying to squirm her way off her mother's shoulder._

"_Ma! No Ma! Please!" As her mother splashed into the ocean, she threw the little girl into the water, but picking her up right away so she didn't get hurt._

_From up on the beach the little boy laughed. His father turned to him._

"_Pretty funny, eh, Jeremy?" The boy nodded at his father, a smirk on his face. "Well then, let's join them!" The boy tried to turn and run as realization hit him, but his father was too fast as he threw the boy over his shoulder and charged into the ocean. Soon all four of them were splashing and laughing happily. A picture perfect moment. . ._

"Come on, Atlanta, get up already!" I woke to my brother shaking me, the small smile on my lips quickly turning into a frown as he ruined my perfect dream.

"All right, all right, I'm up!" I got out of bed as Percy left the cabin. I changed into my jeans and t-shirt and I walked outside, just as Kayla, from the Apollo cabin, ran by.

"Party tonight, Atlanta! Don't be late!" The Apollo cabin always threw the best party's! This was exactly what I needed right now, and it would be awesome!

The day went by pretty uneventfully. Training, lunch, training, more training, dinner, and did I forget to mention training? But, thankfully, after dinner we had a game of capture the flag. It seemed a little weird to be having a capture the flag game on Monday when they were always on Friday, but no one was complaining. We always loved to get lost in the blood-lust and intense battle of capture the flag. It was a way to show which team and cabins were superior. The best part was, even though the cabins usually stuck together, because there were only two of us in the Poseidon cabin, we got to split up. And Percy and I were the fiercest competitors out there. If it was just the two of us going at it, no one got in between us.

As we started the capture the flag game we used our secret strategy. No one would ever expect it, since we knew what the blue team's strategy was. Percy would be guarding the flag for them this time, and I was really excited.

As the game got going I snuck around to the other side of the creek, no one noticing me, until I could see their flag. I stopped about ten feet from it waiting for Percy to jump out. He didn't disappoint. As he jumped out, Riptide ready to strike, I met his sword with my twins gracefully. We were captured in a deadly sword fight, but I knew to outsiders it would look as if it were a choreographed dance. I know you're probably thinking _Why would you wait for him to jump out and fight him? Why wouldn't you grab the flag and book it out of there?_ Simple; we are using a very complicated and ingenious strategy. There is a reason we have a daughter of the Goddess of wisdom as our captain. As we fought I could feel him losing strength, but I knew I was too. I just couldn't get the upper hand, and if I didn't find a way through his guard soon, we would go on for hours. Suddenly, I found an opening and took it. As he swung Riptide in a big upward arc, I sidestepped and hit him across the face with the hilt of my sword. This would have been the perfect hit and I would have won . . . . Except he landed in the creek.

I know you're probably thinking not a big deal right? Wrong. A son of the sea in water always had the upper hand. Lucky for me he was down in the water so I had time to step into it too. Now, this would make for an interesting fight. I felt the water flow through me, giving me renewed strength, but I knew it would be doing the same for Percy too.

As he stood, I felt a smile grow on my face. I was extremely excited for this. We had never tried it before and I was anxious to see what would happen if we were both in our element.

Our swords clashed together, sending a loud clang throughout the forest. I saw the crowds forming out of the corner of my eye. This was perfect; they would all be drawn into a circle around us as we fought.

As our dance became deadly, just as we got into, I heard an all too triumphant yell from one person. One person I knew to have just got the flag. I stepped back from Percy, a huge smirk on my face.

"So long, my little brother. Looks like I have a victory celebration to go to!" He glared at me, but I just walked away innocently. I went over to Annabeth, who was now up on the shoulders of some of the kids from the Hephaestus cabin. Those kids were big.

Annabeth was an awesome team captain and had the best strategies. She was a genius in battle and this was one of her best strategies yet. Knowing that Percy would be guarding the flag, she sent me to go and draw him out, because who wouldn't want to fight their sibling right? Well, Percy and I always had the best fights, and everyone loved to watch. That worked very well with our plan, as Annabeth had snuck up behind the blue team, and gotten the flag. We won. And I know you're probably thinking _Why would Annabeth make herself the star of her own plan? _It wasn't because she was selfish or anything like that. Actually she had wanted me to go and get the flag, but the whole team had agreed with me in saying I would be the distraction, while Annabeth snuck around. And it was genius!

While the blue team went around sulking, the red team was partying it up! We were all happy and proud to be winners, because capture the flag was a big deal at camp. After we had our fun, I went and got changed for the Apollo cabin's party. I dressed in my traditional black converse, with black skinny jeans, and a hot pink V-neck shirt. I threw on my bracelets, and left my hair down. I ran over to the Apollo cabin, to help move beds, and throw some chips in bowls. By the time everything was set it was only 8, but people started filing in anyways. During the winter and stuff the parties never started until 11, but because the younger kids were here and we didn't want them to miss out on the awesomeness that is the Apollo parties, we start early. But no one spikes the punch until all the kids under the age of 16 were gone, which wouldn't be until about 9:30.

By the time 10 rolled around I was pretty sure most of the Aphrodite cabin was wasted. Silena was really the only one of them who wasn't a light weight. I was still going strong though. I had only gotten drunk once in my life, and it was at new years, when I was 14. I blame Travis and Connor Stoll. They kept spiking my pop with Rum. And Scotch. And Tequila. And sometimes all 3 at once. But by the time we got to that point I was so far gone I didn't even notice.

There were some people left, but more than half the camp was gone. Athena's cabin was almost gone except for a few stray people here and there. Obviously the Apollo and Hephaestus cabins were still going strong, the Aphrodite cabin was mostly here, but they were all drunk so it didn't really make a big deal. The Hermes cabin was mostly made up of young kids because they were all newbie's, so there weren't many of them. Most of the Ares cabin was there, though that made me a little suspicious because I didn't like Clarisse at all. As Silena and I danced to the music, drinks in hand, I heard the Stoll brothers' hell "Hey!" simultaneously. They were looking over my shoulder, and I could hear the Ares cabin drawing their swords. Before I could turn around I heard something that made me freeze.

"Watch what you're doing with that spear! That things pointy you know!" I knew of only one person who could say something THAT stupid. I saw Silena staring over my shoulder, her mouth dangling to the floor in shock. And the only thing I could think was, _Oh. My. Fucking. Gods._

"Silena, please, please, please; tell me there is a guy standing behind me, that's the definition of tall, dark, and handsome." She turned to me, here face now serious, and her jaw in place.

"Sorry, Atlanta," my face fell, ". . . . But, there's about 5 of them, and 3 girls." I felt the huge grin on my face as I spun around. I didn't have time to hit her for messing with me if they were here.

**Paul's POV**

We had been looking for hours, before we finally stepped through the magical barriers that separated Camp Half-Blood from the outside world. I was so happy to be here, to be able to see Atlanta again. I was trembling with excitement. Embry put a hand on my shoulder.

"Easy, Paul, we're all happy to be able to see her, but you've got to calm down, buddy." He was right. I took a couple deep breaths, and focused on the hard part. Having to find her in this maze. We knew nothing about the layout of camp Half-Blood, and that was going to—

"Do you hear that?" Jake had his head cocked to the side listening. We all followed suit. Well, everyone but Kim.

"No, Jake, because I don't have freakishly strong, inhuman senses like everyone else here," Kim grumbled. I held back a snicker, because Jared was standing right beside me, and it would not make a good first impression to have a werewolf brawl break out.

Then I heard it. Jackpot. I could hear the sound of Lady Gaga in the distance. Party. That was where my angel would be.

We walked towards the party, and as we stepped into the cabin I barely noticed the number seven and didn't bother to wonder the numbers was for.

As soon as we stepped through the doors we were surrounded by spears, swords, arrows, and other various types of weapons.

Quil, being the genius of our group said, "Watch what you're doing with that spear! That things pointy you know!" How could one person be that stupid?

I almost let out a sigh, but I spotted her. Well, the back of her really. She was turned away from us, frozen and tense. I wanted nothing more than to run over to her and hold her in my arms, but I knew at the moment it would probably end my life, and that was not what I wanted.

I heard her whisper to her friend and smirked. Tall, dark, and handsome, eh? Then she turned.

**Atlanta's POV**

And she was right. There stood Quil, Embry, Jake, Jared, Leah, Kim, and Nessie, but my eyes merely looked at them, smiling, before I locked them with deep green ones that were filled with happiness and love. I ran to him, pushing my way through everyone. As I got to him I hugged him and held him tight, as he spun me around quietly laughing in my ear. As he put me down I buried my face in his chest, my eyes over flowing with happy tears. He buried his face in my hair, and whispered in my ear, "You have no idea how good it is to see you." But I did. I finally felt whole again, like I had been put back together, like the last couple pieces of a jig-saw puzzle you can never figure out had finally been put into place . . . like my soul was finally at rest, the sun finally showing itself after a dark, grey day.

And as I held him, I knew I would never leave his side again, no matter what the gods said. But before we could get into all the sappy, mushy, amazingly good feeling couple stuff I wanted to get to, Embry and Quil happened. As I was enjoying my lovely Paul hug, they grabbed me from behind, tearing me away from my soul mate. First, Embry threw me over his shoulder, dancing in a circle screaming, "ATLANTA!" But soon Quil was yelling, "Hey, my turn! Give her here!"And with that I was tossed from pounding Embry's back to pounding Quil's back while he did the same thing. Until, finally, I found the breath to yell, "Guys, enough!" Quil put me down gently, before him and Embry both pulled into a bear hug in between them. "Can't breathe."

"Sorry," they said in unison, reminding me oddly of the Stoll brothers. Then, before I could even catch my breath, Kim had swept me into a huge hug, before setting me down, and letting Leah take her place.

"You know, a phone call would've been nice!" Leave it to Leah to make this a scolding for me. But she was right, and I looked at the ground sheepishly. Of course, Nessie stepped in then.

"Phone call? I would've settled for a freaking letter! I fire signal! SOMETHING to let us know you were ALIVE would've been nice!" She shouted as she came to hug me. As she let go Jared took her place. He gave me a nice gentle hug, for a change, and gave me a small knowing smile, before stepping back and wrapping his arms around Kim, only to have Jake take his place. He scooped me up into the biggest brotherly hug ever! He picked me up and twirled me around, nearly squeezing me to death, before I got him to let me down saying, "Jake, love you too, but I can't breathe, and Nessie is shooting me death glares," which was, of course, entirely true. Nessie knew I had Paul, but she was still fiercely over protective of Jake. He set me down immediately.

Before Jake had even taken a step away, Paul was behind me, his arms wrapped around my waist, his head on my shoulder, buried in my hair.

That's when I remembered where we were . . . and noticed everyone's arrows, spears, and swords pointed more towards Nessie than anyone else . . . and that Kim was in here.

I stepped away from Paul and hopped on one of the beds, that wasn't a bunk bed, using it as a miniature stage.

"Ok, so everyone knows about how I took a trip to La Push. Well, these are some of the werewolves and their imprints; Leah, Embry, Quil, Jared, his imprint Kim, Jake, his imprint Nessie, and Paul." Each pack member had raised their hand when I mentioned their name. "Now, there are some things you need to know, and some rules we need to lay down. First, they are our friends. That means, no spears, swords, arrows, or weapons of any kind," I looked pointedly at those surrounding them. Most of them lowered their weapons, still casting suspicious glances at the pack. Some, however, kept their weapons trained on Nessie. Her lips curled back in a snarl at this, but I gave her a look and she cut it out. "Second, Nessie is not one of the_ empousa's_ and she will not be treated as such. The gods have a treaty with the pack and, since the pack have a treaty with Nessie and her family; we will do no harm to any of them." Everyone, but Michael Yew lowered their weapons. I looked pointedly at him.

"I will not have this thing in my cabin. It will do more harm than good, and should not have been allowed to enter the camp in the first place. We should kill it now." That almost got Jake to leap forward and kill him, but the rest of the pack held him back, though I could hear a small growl coming from each of them. Michael kept his eyes trained on Nessie as she snarled at him, but didn't move, knowing I would say something. But I did more than say something.

As I walked toward them everyone parted giving me a path. I drew my sword and said, "Your right about one thing." The pack looked at me astonished. Nessie was the worst of all. She looked like I had abandoned her, but their faces looked relieved when I took my sword and brought it up against Michael's. "This . . . thing . . . as you so kindly put it has a name that I already mentioned. Nessie. And she will not be staying in your cabin; she will be staying in mine. However, she was allowed into camp for a reason, and you'll have to deal with it. She has done more good in her life than you probably ever have and you might as well accept that. She was given a life and it will stay that way as long as I'm around. Get my drift, Yew." I spit the last words out of my mouth with venom. He would have to fight me right now if he wanted to kill her. I saw realization hit him as his eyes widened and he lowered his sword and sheathed it. I put my bracelet back on, and turned from him. I was one of the most feared warriors at camp. I had only ever lost to a couple people. Percy, once, Annabeth twice (she distracted me it was unfair!) and Luke. Luke was the only one who could ever best me.

I turned back to everyone. "I'm not sure why or how Nessie was let in here or Kim for that matter, but it probably has something to do with the fact that she has never done an evil deed in her life. She is a vampire not an _empousa_." I saw some kids widen their eyes, scared at having a blood thirsty vampire at their camp, but I quickly continued. "However, Nessie and her family are different. They're vegetarians. They don't drink human blood, only animal." When the satyr's eyes widened even more I looked over my shoulder at Nessie, a silent question in my eyes. She took a quick, discreet smell of the air and shook her head once. I smiled. "The satyrs have nothing to worry about, as Nessie doesn't like the smell of half and half's." Everyone visibly relaxed. "Kim on the other hand," I glanced at her a small smile on my lips as she feigned hurt. I looked back at the pack and noticed the small hint in Paul's eyes. I walked back to my mini-stage, and stood on it.

"I have told you about Jake and Nessie, and Jared and Kim, how they are imprints. For those of you who don't know, an imprint is when a wolf finds their soul mate." I looked at Paul. "But it's more than that. This one person becomes your whole world, and being apart from them feels like . . . well, it's something you don't want to experience. Trust me, I've experienced it." They all looked at me questioningly, before I glanced to Paul and they realized what I was saying. Then I heard the whole Aphrodite cabin squeal. Particularly Silena. I locked eyes with my friend, and what I saw there made my eyes widen in fear. Shit, I was doomed. She wouldn't let this go, none of them would. Shit.

I stepped down off my pedestal and over to the pack. "Come on, we'll find you some rooms," was all I said, as I took Paul's hand and led them out of the Apollo cabin. It was still early, only 10:30 or so, so I decided to go to Chiron as he would still be up, and he needed to know about visitors in camp.

As we stepped outside the cabin, the door shutting behind us, Paul picked me up in his arms and gave me the most passionate kiss ever. It was heaven on fucking earth. We had to stop when we heard Embry.

"Excuse me Paul, but could you not do that to my girlfriend right now." Embry and I always joked around with Paul about us being a couple, since Embry was the last single one. It was kind of fun, but I was enjoying myself right now, and Embry just ruined it.

So as Paul growled, I made my voice known, saying, "Shut it, Embry," against Paul's lips. He picked me up bridal style to make it more comfortable. We kissed until Jake made a very significant clearing of his throat, and I giggled as I tore my lips away from Paul's. He groaned and nuzzled his face into my neck. I whispered, "Later," in his ear, so softly that only he could hear. He chuckled against my neck as we walked forward, before Jared stopped and turned to me.

"Where are we going?" I nudged Paul signalling for him to let me down, and he did, but not without keeping his arm over my shoulder as we walked. I slipped my hand around his waist and into his back pocket, as was my custom. I led them to Chiron's study, and knocked on the door before entering.

"Hey, Chiron, I found these kids on the street and decided to do my good deed for the year, so I brought them here. Is that ok? They can sleep on the ground."

"Yeah, sounds fine," was all Chiron said, keeping his face perfectly serious, as if this happened all the time. As I turned to walk out, the last person I expected to speak up shouted, "I am NOT sleeping on the ground." We all turned to stare at Embry. The guy could turn into a freaking wolf, but he wouldn't sleep on the ground. I burst out laughing. My laughter, of course, sent Chiron into laughter, but he quickly sobered once he realized who I had with me. And that, in turn, sobered me up too.

"So who are they really?"

"Oh, please, you already know that, Chiron." He knew exactly who the pack and imprints were.

"Perhaps a better question would have been what are their names?" I quickly rattled them off and waited for the next questioned.

"How did they get here?" I looked to them. I hadn't asked this question myself. Jake quickly explained how Paul had figured out where Camp was due to my mention of the Empire State Building, and the rivers. Other than that they had drove my truck and just walked in.

"But how did Kim and Nessie get in?" I was surprised Chiron had the names all figured out already.

"What do you mean?" Jared was clearly confused, as were the rest of the pack, about why the two imprints wouldn't be allowed in.

"Well, Camp Half-Blood has magical boundaries, as you know, however those boundaries also keep mortals and monsters out. No offense." Kim and Nessie both waved it off, knowing that I didn't mean anything by what I said.

"But that doesn't make sense then. How did we get in?" Kim questioned.

I turned to Chiron. "You don't think . . . ?" I left my sentence hanging, knowing he would get my drift. If it's true, it would send Jake, Jared, and Paul into a frenzy to get the imprints out of here, which in turn would make us crazy, not to mention Quil would want to get back to Claire, and Chiron would be in a hurry to get the camp prepared. Embry would be the only sane one around, and that was a scary thought in itself. On top of that, I just couldn't bear to say it out loud. It would hurt too much. However, Chiron's voice was grave as he voiced one of my biggest fears.

"Yes, that's exactly what I think. But the question isn't what happened, but how he got in."

**A/N: Cue seriously over used scary music! Please review and I need ideas for the next chapters or I won't be able to finish the story! I have the ending planned, but I need a couple things before it! Thanks!**


	9. Another Problem Another Quest

**A/N: Brownie points awarded tooooo . . . **_**X-RayDog, horseluvr888, artimisgirl101, tkdprincess96, SYWAF137, EmmettAndAliceCullenRule2, The Wolf With Tears, .wolves, catlover123456789, Princess Of Souls, Pretty-as-a-Princess**_**, **_**WiseBrainPotterPal101, owlcityluvr12, xSaffire55x, Starstrukk by 3OH3, **_**and**_** Whitetigermisty**_

_**owlcityluvr12**_**: Haha thank you soooo much! **** haha and i no what u mean, but i would luv to hear ur ideas anyway **** 3**

_**WiseBrainPotterPal101:**_** haha thanx **** and p.s. luv the name **

_**.wolves: Why, thank you! **_

_**SYWAF137: Thanks! **_

_**Starstrukk by 3OH3: Thanks! Glad you think so **__** Here you go! **_

_**Mistic Wolfess: **_**Thank you! Sorry to keep you waiting so long. And you will find out soon ;)**

**Chapter 8: Another Problem. Another Quest.**

**Atlanta's POV:**

"There wouldn't be any way! There is no way except on solid ground through the boundaries, and there is no way he could get here and take them down without someone noticing!"

"I'm afraid there is a way—"

"No, Chiron. No one here would do that. There is no way. Chiron, I refuse to believe my friends, people I know, would be a part of this and have the guts to sit with us everyday knowing what they are doing. There is no one in this camp that would do that." My voice was firm, but there was a slight shake in it. I knew the possibility was very real, but it just couldn't be.

"What are you talking about?"

"Is there some way we can help?"

"What's going on?"

All their questions were rambling together, but a sharp throat clearing from Embry – of all people – made them shut up.

"Lanta . . ." As Paul said my nickname I wanted to turn around and tell him everything, but I refrained. I couldn't lay all this on him, on any of them! This was our problem and I was determined to fix it without putting more people than needed at risk. Then I noticed the look in Chiron's eye. He opened his mouth to speak.

"No," my voice was soft, but held a deadly air to it. Chiron turned to me.

"Atlanta—"

"No, Chiron. Just no." I wanted him to understand so badly. I knew he was being smart and thinking about how useful the wolves would be in what was to come, but I couldn't do that to them. I couldn't put them in harms way.

Chiron rolled over to me in his wheelchair. He put a hand on my shoulder, and as he said, "It's for the best," I knew I had no choice. I felt a silent tear fall down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away as I turned to face the pack.

"You'll hear the whole story, but since I'm only going to tell it once, you are going to have to wait until I tell the whole camp." You could tell by the looks on their faces they didn't like it, but it was satisfactory . . . for now at least.

About 20 minutes later I had the whole camp in front of me as I stood on the Poseidon table. Everyone was whispering and joking around with their friends. As I cleared my throat they dropped the noise and turned to me, small smiles on their faces from enjoying the sunny day, thinking that I would announce another surprise capture the flag game.

"Most people here know or have heard of Luke Castellan." At the name almost everybody, except the newbie's and the really little kids, froze; their faces ranging from masks of horror, anger, or sadness. Annabeth, Percy, and Grover looked as if they could faint.

"Everyone knows that he hated his father and that he hated all the gods in general. If you haven't heard, Luke was the one that stole the lightning bolt from Zeus and tried to get it to Hades to start a war of the gods. That plan back fired when Percy, Annabeth, and Grover got the lightning bolt back, with the help of Persephone, and gave it back to Zeus in time to stop anything that would end the world as we know it. You all know the story of how Thalia's tree was poisoned and the camp was attacked, and how Grover found the Golden Fleece and Thalia was brought back to human form. Not to mention the story of Annabeth and Artemis going missing and Atlas being set free and then recaptured under the weight of the sky. All of that was the doing of Luke and Cronus." There were some gasps from the little ones, but everyone else faces remained stoic.

"As you have all noticed my friends have come to visit; one is a vampire, and one is a mortal. The only way they entered camp is because the boundaries are down. I don't think that this means the outside world can see us, but that does mean that anything can get in." I could see everyone's panic stricken faces. This was going to be hard, especially on the younger ones.

"We need to be ready for everything and anything. That means we train hard, always keep your guard up and avoid going outside as much as possible. Sleep with your weapons beside your bed, and raise the alarm the second you see something." I know I was laying it on a little thick, but this was a desperate situation.

"What part does Luke play in this?" The question I dreaded was brought forth by Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares.

That one question was the thing that brought me the most sorrow. That was the one question that had me ready for tears, but I held my ground and stayed strong. "We, being Chiron and I, believe that Luke was the one responsible for the boundaries being down." Everyone gasped at this new news. We were all thinking the same thing. You had to be inside the camp to control the boundaries. "That means there are two options. Luke found a way into camp, or someone here is a spy. I refuse to believe anyone here would put the people they have grown up with in danger, which leaves a much more terrifying summary. Luke has found a way into the camp, and we have to assume he will use it."

It was dead silent. No one knew what to say to my mini-speech. And what were you supposed to say? 'Oh well, let's try and forget about it?' We all had to deal with it, and it would hit different people differently, and at different times. It had already hit me, so I was dealing with it, but what about Annabeth? It was no secret that she had a crush on Luke. Thalia? She had fallen hard for him when they had first some to camp, before she was turned into a tree. Percy? Luke was the first person he met at camp, other than Grover. They had bonded, but Luke had also tried to frame him, and they had already faced off. Everyone was going to be affected by this, negatively or positively, whether they liked it or not.

Everyone disappeared to their cabins to let everything sink in. I nearly collapsed into Paul's arms. He just held me, stroking my hair, as silent tears fell down my cheeks. I pushed back from him a little, though his arms were still around my waist, my hands on his chest. "I'm so sorry you guys were dragged into this." There were still silent tears running down my face.

"You shouldn't be sorry for that. We're always up for a little fight."

I scoffed at that. "Little? Paul our whole world is going to be fighting against the Titan Lord of Time. This isn't little."

"Relax. We'll deal. Meanwhile, you worry about your camp. The pack will be fine. We'll split up so that the imprints and La Push are still protected and some of us will come help fight."

"Chiron, it's a great idea. It at least keeps the routine going, and the kids need it. Everything in their world is being turned upside down. They need something solid, and Capture the Flag is the best thing we can do right now that has nothing to do with an upcoming war!"

"Atlanta, I know you're right, but we don't want to risk someone coming in and destroying camp while we are unprepared."

"Chiron, please. Everyone is antsy, well antsy-er than usual. They need something to take their minds off it, and they will still be on their guard because we will be fighting. The wolves can join in, which will give us extra protection."

"Fine, but I'm holding you responsible for anything that happens." Of course, just because he said that, something was bound to happen.

It was going great actually. The kids had separated into teams within a day, and the wolves had even split up into two teams.

It started out simply, really, Percy and I (on the same team for once) were in charge of getting the flag since Annabeth was positive they had hidden it by the creek. Unfortunately Chiron had changed the boundaries for capture the flag and we had to go around Zeus's fist to get it. We were at the fist when the Hunters circled us. As we started to climb I pushed Percy up ahead of me and found myself falling. I waited for the impact of the ground, but it never came. Instead, I found myself falling into blackness and landing on a dirt floor. I could hear Thalia and Percy above me trying to find me.

"Down here!" I yelled.

"What the hell? What's down there?" Thalia asked, like I would know.

"Dunno, but I'm going to find out."

"No, Atlanta don't!" Percy called. "Come back up here and we'll find Chiron."

I sighed, knowing he was right. "Fine. Ruin my fun," I muttered, jumping up and kicking off the wall to grab the edge and pull myself up.

As I stood on the ground, we heard cheers and raced towards them. We won. Annabeth had known the Hunters would come after us and had led a second party down to get the flag.

Now for all you folks out there who have younger siblings, you know what it's like when they are getting bullied on the playground, or someone takes the jokes a little too far at their expense, and you completely flip out because they're your younger sibling and only you're allowed to treat them like that. Yeah, that's how I felt when I saw the hell hound running down the hill towards Percy. The worst part was, he didn't even know. I bolted towards him from my place near Chiron, drawing my swords as I went. I jumped in front of the hell hound just as it reached Percy, flinging it off, but not without taking a rake from its claws across my ribs. Everyone jumped away, giving it a wide berth, and Percy realized just how close he'd come to being dead. That kid really needs to learn to watch his surroundings.

I could tell the pack were all on edge because they didn't know what to make of what was going on. Lucky for them, they stayed smart by letting me handle this. No one moved to help me, and no one would unless the battle was turned deadly for me. That was the way things were at camp, you had to learn to look out for yourself.

I was careful to keep my center of balance low. I could see the wolves (in human form) making sure Paul didn't do anything rash. The hound lunged, aiming for my head. But I was ready. I ducked and rolled under it, waiting for its next move. As it dove again it went low and as I jumped over it I flipped and swung my swords across its back. I had caught it off guard and it whimpered. Why did it have to whimper? I was a sucker for animals and considering the hellhound reminded me so much of the wolves I hesitated for a second. Just a split second. But that was all the hound needed. It was up in a flash and had me pinned, but that snapped me out of it. I used my feet to kick its chest and throw it off me. Then I spun and as I went to deliver the killing blow, it shimmered. Shadow Travel. _Fuck! I just can't catch a break! _I had blocked out the pain in my ribs during the battle, but the extent of the damage done by the hellhound's claws hit me full force. _Perfect, just perfect! Way to make my day! _I sighed in annoyance.

All of a sudden, I heard Jake mutter, "Go for a run." When I looked towards them all I could see was the silver tail of a wolf disappearing. I looked at Jake and he just shook his head. Paul hadn't been able to handle it. Sure, I had told him about the fights and the quests, he had even seen me training, but a real battle is a lot different. _Lovely, another thing to deal with._

Then I turned around and there was Chiron looking at me. And his eyes held a heavy weight. I walked up to Chiron who was now standing in the middle of the circle. "Meeting in the big house. Now," he said. All the cabin leaders, and Jake, started walking towards the big house well everyone else dispersed to go practice or back to their cabins.

Fuck. . . I wouldn't be able to find Paul until after. Shit.

As we all settled around the table, we got straight down to business. Main things talked about were:

Hell hound. Obviously. Someone had to either summon it from inside camp, or take the boundaries down. The question was who and how'd they get in.

Where I went during capture the flag. Chiron informed us of a quest he had sent Clarisse and Annabeth on while I was away. The hole was apparently Daedalus's labyrinth.

Once we knew what was going on, the majority of people left, except for Percy, Annabeth, Jake, Grover, Chiron, and I. We still had a lot to discuss, and I was pretty sick and tired of not doing anything other than talking so our conversation went a little like this.

"Annabeth, I don't care how much you don't want to believe it, this was Luke's doing and he doesn't care who he hurts anymore. You need to get over it and accept he is the enemy now," I know my words were cruel and unforgiving, but I still hadn't tended to my wounded ribs and blood loss was making me a little delirious.

"You don't know him Atlanta—"

"Yes, Annabeth, I do. I've known him for just as long as you have in case you forgot. I know that you want to believe he is still the good guy you grew up around, but you have to face facts, there is too much evidence saying it's him. Wake up and see it Annabeth. It's true, learn to live with it." I turned to Chiron. "I take it we're going to have to make a quest of this?"

No one mentioned my harshness, but Chiron just nodded his head. "Who shall lead it?"

We all looked around at each other. Not Jake, he was needed here with the pack. Certainly not Grover, because he hated underground spaces. I couldn't leave camp with the pack here, and everyone looked to me for advice, so I was out of the question. That left Annabeth and Percy. "I vote Annabeth," I said. "She has the most information and intelligence out of all of us and she would be able to navigate the labyrinth better than anyone." The others nodded in my assessment.

"Annabeth, it's your turn to see the oracle."

We all waited silently as Annabeth went upstairs. None of us knew what to think, and nobody would meet my eyes. Meanwhile, we all knew that the camp was in shambles because of what happened. As much as everyone went on about their day as normally as possible, we all knew they were panicking inside. Someone needed to tell them what was happening, but we needed to get on with this quest first.

As we waited silently, I stood tense staring out the window. Jake came and enveloped me in a hug, but I didn't respond. At least not for a minute, but when he showed no signs of letting go, I gave up and wrapped my arms around him. He wasn't who I really needed right now, but a hug helped anyways.

As Annabeth came down the stairs we all waited. "I know who to take on the quest," was all she said.

"Very well," Chiron replied. "Choose wisely."

"Percy, Grover," she paused for a moment. "And Tyson." We were all a little shocked considering everyone went in threes, except for Jake who had no idea what was so bad about it.

"Annabeth," Chiron began, "are you sure? Four is an odd number for a quest. Three would be much safer."

"I can't explain it Chiron. I just have a feeling that I will need all three of them"

"Very well," Chiron conceded. "Just be careful."

"I will," she said quietly. She wouldn't meet my eyes as she walked out. At the door she stopped and turned back. "We leave in the morning, I guess. Pack as much food and provisions as you can." And with that she was off to study the labyrinth.

I knew I should apologize to her before she left in the morning, but right now I really needed to find Paul. I hadn't seen him since the hell hound incident, and it was really starting to worry me.

I knew it shouldn't bother me much, but I had canvassed as much of the camp as possible without going to deep into the forest. I knew he would more than likely be in there, but I just couldn't bring myself to go in too deep alone if Luke was waiting to strike. Lucky for me, I didn't have to because, all of a sudden, there he was.

Right on the outskirts of the woods, he was standing there, cut-offs low on his hips, looking at me. As soon as I saw him, I rushed into his arms.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into my hair, "but you scared the hell out of me."

I let out a little laugh, "You're going to have to get used to it."

"Not yet I don't," and he kissed me. It was a feather light touch that spoke volumes.

Meanwhile, people have been doing everything they can to forget about the hellhound attack. Paul, however, had not and it didn't look like he was planning to anytime soon. He was constantly hovering and frankly as much as I loved him, it was annoying the hell out of me. He wouldn't let me go anywhere without him and he always had to be within three feet of me.

All of a sudden, I felt something grab my leg. I looked down and there was Hali. I picked her up and rested her on my hip.

"Why hello there, Hali. And what are you doing out here?"

"Percy sent me to get you. He said he wants you to meet Quintus."

"And who would Quintus be?" Hali shrugged. "Well, would you like a piggy-back ride there?" She nodded her head so fast I thought it was going to fall off.

Hali was an adorable little girl. She was only 5 but had been in camp nearly her whole life. She had gorgeous blonde curls and the grey/blue eyes that were the trademark of her family in the Athena cabin. I went to the arena and sure enough Percy was there with some other guy . . . and a hellhound. I put Hali down and walked forward.

"Heeeeey, Perce." I was looking at 'Quintus'. Why in Tartarus would this guy have a hell hound?

"Hey, Atlanta. This is Quintus he's the new sword instructor." My ears perked at that. A new man on campus? That's not good. He held out his hand and I shook it. It's not that I trusted him, it was just until I figured out what side he was on he would need to believe I trusted him.

**A/N: Not the best chapter in the world. Review?  
**


	10. Surprise, Surprise

**A/N: Brownie points to . . . . **_**apr1998, The Uh Girl, cocoa85715, Musicality101, stargategeeket , **_**and**_** ClarVoYant2015.**_

**: Haha that's awesome! :p And yeah I'm pretty happy too **

_**Annabeth10121**_**: Thanks! **

_**cocoa87515:**_** Yeah same aha! And thanks so much that means a lot! **

_**ClarVoYant2015**_**: Haha here you go! Sorry it took so long! **

**Chapter 9: Surprise, Surprise.**

The next morning Percy and Annabeth were gone. I know I should've apologized to her the night before but I was a little preoccupied with this Quintus guy. Life at camp went on rather normally. Chiron, Jake, and I made battle plans. Campers trained. The pack trained. That was, until Annabeth came back . . . without Percy.

When she explained what happened I couldn't believe it. No matter how many times I tell that kid to be careful he goes and does something stupider than the last time. But he had fucked up royally this time. We all knew the chances of him coming back alive. And thank the Gods Paul's arms were around my waist because the moment I found out, I don't think my legs would've held me up.

Today was exactly two weeks since Annabeth came back. I knew it the moment I woke up. This was going to be the worst day of my life. Kronus taking over I could deal with because there was something I could do about it. But a dead brother? How in Tartarus can you fix that? To me, nothing was that bad if there was a solution. But losing Percy? There's no solution to that. I felt lost. I didn't know what to do.

I know kids at camp had started wondering exactly how much I cared about Percy. I hadn't cried since I found out.

_~~~~Flashback~~~~_

_I had sat on my bed for a few hours staring at his bunk until Paul had come in and sat down beside me. He pulled me into his arms so that I was on his lap. Still no tears fell._

"_Talk to me," he murmured into my hair._

_My voice came out almost too soft and weak to be mine it seemed. "Does it make sense that it hurts too much to cry? I feel like if I cry it makes it real. I can't deal with that. There's no way to fix this and if I make it real . . . I'm scared . . . I can't lose anyone else."_

"_You've got to face it at some point. It doesn't have to be right now. But whenever it is, I will be right beside you every moment."_

_I just curled into him. I don't know how he knew exactly what to say, but he always did. He really was my soul mate. I didn't need reassurances or people telling me it was going to be okay because it wasn't. And somehow he knew that._

_~~~~Flashback~~~~_

Paul and I were sitting on the dock, his arm around my shoulders. I leaned into him as I heard Chiron's hoof falls as he came down the dock. I squeezed my eyes shut. _Not now, not now, not now, not now._

"Atlanta," Chiron said the sadness in his voice as clear as the blue water under us. I took a deep breath before looking up at him. "It's been two weeks. You know what happens."

"I know," I whispered. Missing for two weeks meant you were presumed dead. "Is Annabeth still working?" For two weeks Annabeth had been trying to find a way to find Percy. I hadn't helped her. It wasn't that I didn't want to find him; it was just that I knew I wouldn't be able to help.

As Paul and I walked behind Chiron to the amphitheater, I let all my memories of Percy play through my head. He was my little brother and all of a sudden he's gone. I loved him so much and just like that poof I never see him again. I knew what everyone would say. He's a demigod. Since when were we supposed to live passed 25? If you were a child of the big three you were lucky to live to be 20. He wasn't that lucky. And he died on a quest isn't that how it's supposed to be? So you can be remembered as a hero? None of that makes it any better or any easier.

As I stood on the edge of the stage looking at Percy's shroud, I thought I couldn't do it. I couldn't let him go just like that. But I had to. Paul made to walk away to go stand with the pack albeit reluctantly, but I grabbed his hand. He looked back. "Stay," it came out as barely a whisper. He came back and wrapped his arm around my waist. I leaned into him as the tears I had held back for so long started to streak silently down my face. This was going to be terrible.

Chiron stood at the front of the stage facing the camp. "Percy Jackson has been missing for two weeks." Anyone could hear the raw sadness in Chiron's voice. "We must assume he is dead. After so long a silence it is unlikely our prayers will be answered. I have asked his best surviving friend to do the final honours."

I had asked Annabeth to speak because I couldn't get a word out. There was no way I would be able to talk about him. Annabeth was the only other person here who knew him and loved him as much as me. Annabeth walked to the centre of the stage and set the cloth on the flames of the fire. Her voice was choked as she spoke and you could tell her throat was raw from crying but she spoke all the same. "He was probably the bravest friend I've ever had. He . . ." All of a sudden Annabeth's face went from the pale colour it had been to a blood red. "He's right there!"

At first I thought she'd lost it. But when I looked to the back of the theatre and heard Beckendorf yell out, "Percy!" I thought I was going to collapse with relief. Of course, then the anger set in. Apparently Annabeth felt the same way because the two of us shot off the stage after Chiron and pushed our way though the crowd.

"Well," Chiron started, the relief in his voice even more obvious than the sadness had been. "I don't believe I've ever been happier to see a camper return but you must tell me—"

Annabeth's booming voice interrupted, finishing Chiron's sentence. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" And then she hugged him harder than I thought physically possible. She let him go when she relaxed everyone had fallen silent. "I—we thought you were dead, Seaweed Brain!"

As soon as Annabeth released him I hugged Percy to me and whispered, just loud enough for him to hear, "I was so worried. Never do that again ok?"

"I'm sorry," he said. "I got lost."

Wait, lost? I let go of him then and stepped back. "Lost?" I said incredibly. "For two weeks? Percy, no one gets lost for TWO WEEKS!"

Chiron jumped into our conversation, "Perhaps we should discuss this somewhere more private, shall we? The rest of you, back to your normal activities!"

We walked back to the Big House. Once we were inside, Annabeth demanded to hear Percy's story. As he spoke I could tell he left something out and I had an idea of what but Annabeth was in the room so I wouldn't say anything.

"You've been gone two weeks, Perce," I said, my voice steady now that I was sure he was safe. "We thought—"

"I know," he said, squeezing my hand.

"When I heard the explosion I thought—" Annabeth's voice still shook just the slightest.

"I'm sorry," Percy said. "But I figured out how to get through the Labyrinth. I talked to Hephaestus."

"Woah, woah, woah," I said. "Slow down a sec there, bud. A) You just got back, B) last time you were in there we all thought you died, which leads to C) no way in Tartarus are you going back!"

"Atlanta, we need to stop Luke," he argued. "Which means we need to get through the Labyrinth Hephaestus told me how to."

"He told you the answer?" Annabeth piped.

"Well, he sort of told me that I already knew. And I do. I understand now." And he explained. Personally, I thought it would work, but I knew Annabeth would be less than fond of the idea. And why did he have to go with them?

"Percy, that's crazy!" Annabeth voiced.

Chiron threw in his two cents, "There is precedent, however. Theseus had the help of Ariadne. Harriet Tubman, daughter of Hermes, used many mortals on her Underground Railroad for just this reason."

"But this is my quest," Annabeth argued. "I need to lead it."

"Annabeth," I started slowly, "it's your quest but there is no rule saying you don't need help."

"And this is supposed to help?" She protested. "Please! It's wrong. It's cowardly. It's—"

"Hard to admit we need a mortal's help," Percy interjected. "But it's true." Annabeth's glare was ferocious.

"You are the single most annoying person I have ever met!" She yelled as she stormed out of the room.

"So much for being the bravest friend she's ever had."

I sighed and looked at Percy. "You're my brother and I love you to death, but you are _so damn blind_ sometimes." I ran after Annabeth.

"Annabeth!" I called to her. "Hey! Slow down!" She stopped so I could catch up to her. "Talk to me, girl."

"Why does it have to be Rachel? Why couldn't it be a guy?"

I laughed. "I hate to break it to you, but what you're thinking has never even crossed Percy's mind. There is absolutely no reason for you to be jealous. And if it was a guy I think we would have something to worry about." Annabeth rolled her eyes at my comment. "Now, I know going to a mortal for help is one thing, and I also know that you hate the idea of Percy saying you need to bring along Rachel of all people. But what's really bugging you?"

She looked at me for a moment before she got a sad look on her face. "You of all people can guess where he was marooned, Atlanta."

"Annabeth, I know you're worried because he was with Calypso, but he _came back_. Doesn't that count for anything?"

"He was still there for _two weeks_! A lot can happen in two weeks!"

"Ok, you need to listen to me and listen closely. _Nothing. Happened._ He came back. And I know for a fact he didn't come back because of me." I gave her a very significant look and she turned away.

"Still . . ."

"Annabeth, just stop. You have no argument, so drop it." She looked up at me. I smiled. She rolled her eyes. "You know I'm right."

"For once," she scoffed and walked off.

"I resent that!" I called after her. And then I went to find Paul.

As I wandered camp, I got tackled from the knees and ended up on the ground with none other than Hali on top of me.

"Atlanta!" she yelled excitedly.

"Hey, Hali!" I said giving her a big smile. "What are you doing?"

"I was looking around for you!" she replied with an enormous smile of her own.

"Really? Well, why were you looking for me?"

She shrugged. "I haven't seen you in a while I guess."

I stood up and placed her on my hip. "Well, good, because you can help me find Paul. We're just going to walk around and you tell me if you see him, ok?"

"Ok," she said as she laid her head down on my shoulder. We walked around camp in a comfortable silence. She got so quiet I thought she was asleep at one point. "Is that him?"

I looked where she was pointing and saw a toned back and a mess of shaggy black hair. "No, that's Embry," I told her, "but he might know where Paul is." We started to walk over and I rolled my eyes as I noticed he was talking to the Aphrodite girls. "Hey, Embry!" I called.

He turned around and smiled as he saw me. Then he saw Hali and a look came over his face I had only seen once before. No fucking way. My step faltered slightly but I continued to walk to him and cleared my throat loudly which caused him to snap out of his trance and look at me. "Embry, this is Hali. Hali, this is Embry," I introduced, my face blank and voice steady.

Embry leaned down a bit so he could smile and wave at her. "Well, hello Hali."

Hali giggled and waved back shyly with a soft, "Hi, Embry."

I put Hali down and said, "Why don't you go see what Annabeth's doing, ok?"

Hali nodded and ran off. I turned to Embry and watched him as he watched Hali until she was out of sight. He looked back at me and cringed at my look.

"Come on, Atlanta, you know it's not something I can control—"

I held up my hand to stop him. "Look, pay attention because I'm only going to say this once, got it. You better treat her like a fucking princess. I'm only giving you one shot at this. If you screw up it's not my fault. She is going to be the best thing that's ever happened to you so don't fuck it up or I will fuck you up. Got it?"

He just nodded and went after her.

**A/N: Hows that for a twist?**


	11. Best Friends And Another Imprint

**A/N: Brownies go toooooo . . . . . . . X.x.X...x.X.x.X, SundaySolis, jayWeasly-Tonks, Hi. ImMariaa, Fluttersby, foxxiemama5!**

**SundaySolis: Thanks so much! **

**Hi. ImMariaa: haha here you go! Glad you liked the Embry imprint thing and hope this chapter is as good as the last one **

**Chapter 10: Best Friends And Another Imprint**

Dinner was uneventful. Other than the fact that Percy was now at our table again, thank Gods. It was nice having him back in the cabin that night as well. Although the pack had been in the cabin since they had got here, it had felt lonely when Percy was lost/dead/not here–whatever you want to call it.

It was great falling asleep, knowing my little brother was safely in the bunk below me. However, as awesome as the pack was, they didn't quite understand demi-god dreams. When I felt Percy sit up quickly in the middle of the night, I whispered, "You good?"

I got a steady, "Yeah, no big," in reply. I nodded to myself, lying back down on my mattress. I waited and waited, but it was a long time before I heard his breathe even out again as he fell asleep.

I stood up on the hill with Annabeth and Argus, waiting for Percy. As soon as he stood in front of me I hugged him as hard as I could.

"Atlanta, I need to breath."

I laughed and stepped back. "Right, sorry. But I expect you to come back alive and in one piece, got it?"

He chuckled. "Don't worry about me. We'll figure this out and make it back in time. While we're out though, you need to make sure camp stays alive and in one piece."

"Relax, I got it covered," I replied. "Did you get someone to look after Mrs. O'Leary?"

"Yeah, Beckendorf's on it." That reminded me, I needed to go see Silena sometime soon.

"Good." I let him go and went over to hug Annabeth. "Don't worry about Rachel," I whispered in her ear before letting go. "Be good, you two. And say hi to your mom for me."

Then they left. I watched as Argus took them down the road. Those two better come back in one piece. And Percy better not do anything stupid.

I went to find Silena. It had been a long time since I had been with my best friend and I was in need of some serious girl talk. So as soon as I entered the Aphrodite cabin you can imagine what happened.

"Atlanta," Silena called from where she was sitting, gossiping with a group of girls. They all looked up and smiled and waved. I waved back. Then I felt an arm wrap around my shoulders and looked up to see Tyler Balsolm. Tyler was one of the Aphrodite boys so there was no way you could doubt that he was hot. He was your typical blond hair, blue eyes, and was very well built, standing at a lovely 6' 6". He was actually an awesome guy and probably my best guy friend at camp. He was the same age as me and we had often flirted back and forth (as a joke) before I left for La Push. Personally, I think I needed to introduce him to Leah, but don't tell her that.

"Hey, Ty," I smiled up at him.

"How are you?" he asked. "I haven't seen you in forever, it's like you just disappeared once you got back to camp."

I laughed. "Sorry, just had a lot of stuff to take care of."

"Good. Now we can catch up."

"Not so fast, Tyler," Silena interjected. "I get her first."

I let out another laugh. "Actually, why don't the three of us go for a little walk?" They both stared at me for a second. I rolled my eyes. "I want Ty to meet someone." I winked at Silena and she smiled, knowing exactly what I meant. Although Leah was hardly a girly girl, she seemed to bond with my Aphrodite friend.

We walked and talked. It was good to get have some normal camp conversation considering everything that had been happening lately. Then I saw Leah out on the beach with the guys. She had definitely warmed up to everyone since I had come to La Push and the guys had all excused her former bitchiness. Don't get me wrong, she could still be bitchy, but it wasn't as bad anymore.

"Hey, Leah," I called as we walked towards them. She looked up and smiled at me before her eyes hit Ty's and she froze. Hell yeah, I just won twenty bucks.

_Flashback_

_Leah and I were walking down the beach, just hanging out._

"_There's no way I'm going to imprint. Let's face it, I'm a freak among freaks."_

_I rolled my eyes. "Leah, you're going to imprint because you are gorgeous and what guy wouldn't want a girl that can kick ass."_

_She rolled her eyes at me this time. "Atlanta, just because you have Paul and you can kick ass doesn't mean that's what every guy wants."_

"_Well then, I bet you twenty bucks you find an imprint within the next year."_

_She smirked. "Fine, that's an easy twenty bucks."_

_End of Flashback_

We continued walking towards the pack and Paul came up to wrap his arms around me, but my eyes never left Leah's face. "Leah, this is Tyler. Tyler, Leah."

Ty smiled and stuck his hand out. "Call me Ty." I smiled. I felt Silena contain a giggle. I was the only one that ever called him Ty. And it wasn't because he told me I could, I just did.

"Hey," she said a little shyly as she shook his hand.

"You want to go for a walk?" Ty asked, nodding down the beach.

"Sure," she replied easily, and off they went talking the whole way.

"You knew that would happen," Silena accused.

"No," I countered, "I had a strong suspicion. There's a difference." She just rolled her eyes at me. I turned to Paul and gave him a peck on the lips. "Hey."

"Hey," he said, smiling down at me. "Way to play matchmaker, by the way. Embry just told us about Hali." I looked over and there she was on Embry's shoulders.

"He better take care of her or he's a dead man," I warned. "Now, I will see you later," I said, letting go of him, "because we are having a good old fashioned girls day since I haven't hung out with Silena in forever."

He pouted but muttered, "Fine," he sighed, the pout still on his lips. That pout would be the death of me. I wrapped my arms around his soldiers and gave him a good solid kiss.

"That should hold you for the rest of the day," I winked at him and walked away.

Silena and I wandered down the beach to the cabin my dad had built on the water. Percy and I were lucky in that way. The pack stayed with us in our cabin in the big U, but we also had this cabin on the beach. It was very convenient if one of us needed to get away from people.

We were in the cabin for a good couple hours just talking and it was awesome. We avoided the topics of Luke and the Labyrinth as much as possible and she told me about Beckendorf. She was completely head over heels in love. It was adorable. Needless to say, majority of the time was spent talking and giggling about our men. It was great just to have a day with my best friend again.

Of course, the next day reality came back. Most of the day was spent in the big house with Chiron, Jake, and the cabin leaders. Basically we were making the camp into a military base. Talk about foreboding, right?

As soon as I walked out of the doors, Paul was there, wrapping his arms around me. I squeezed him back. He leaned down to whisper in my ear, "Let's get out of here." I nodded in response, and we walked away.

I hated this. Hated the fact that all I could do was plan for an inevitable war from a guy who I admired and respected that had gone evil and turned his back on all of us. I knew the Gods were harsh. I knew that they weren't always fair to their children and I knew that Luke's childhood was hardly perfect, but in this camp who's life was?

I just didn't understand what drove him to go to Kronus. Not to mention the fact that he is now attacking the only home he ever had. I know that he would say that the Gods drove him from his home to camp, but he loved it here, loved the training, the people, everything. So what changed that?

As Paul and I walked down the beach, I vented all this to him. And I have to give him credit; he just listened through it all and didn't say a word. Then again, what was there to say? But he was there, and that made all the difference in the world.


	12. IM's and Politics

**A/N: Brownie points too . . . **_**christy86, hollywoodab, Wasipi, blueberrypie94, DeAdLyJeSs10, PeaceMaker1, Lost In The Arts, **_**and **_**HiddenDemigod**_

_**hollywoodab: **_**sorry for the long wait! **

_**blueberrypie94: **_**thank you :)**

**Without further ado . . . **

**Chapter 11: IM's and Politics**

Next time I heard from Percy he IM-ed me. **(IM = iris message hehe)**

"Hey bro, what's up? Anything happen that I should know about?"

Percy just laughed at me and shook his head. "Nope. Rachael, Annabeth, and I are on our way to the Marriott."

"The Marriott? . . . Why?" I asked, confused.

"Apparently there's an entrance to the labyrinth in the basement."

I nodded. "Way to make progress. So why the message? Just an update for your big sis?" I was a little weary. Percy didn't usually just call to check in.

He sighed. "Things are really heating up between Rachael and Annabeth. Frankly, I'm scared Annabeth might kill her."

I paused to think for a minute. "The only advice I can give you is to make sure they don't kill each other. You can't do anything about two girls not liking each other." I shook my head. "But, Gods, you're oblivious sometimes."

"What kind of advice is that? And what do you mean I'm oblivious?"

I just shook my head at him. "It's good advice. And you'll know what I mean someday. Now, get back to your quest, and come back in one piece. That's not optional."

He laughed and rolled his eyes. "Bye, Atlanta."

"Bye, Perce," I said, and waved my hand through the rainbow.

Then it was off to the Big House. The Cabin leaders' and the pack's time had been pretty much consumed by training or planning. The pack had taken to training with the campers since it gave them the idea of how to fight a sword instead of fangs, and it gave us the idea of how a hellhound and an _empousa _(Nessie) would fight.

However, the next 2-3 hours would be taken up by trying to plan defense for an attack when we didn't know their numbers, weapons, plan, or time of attack. It was frustrating to say the least. Lately the whole pack, not just Jake, had taken to coming to the meetings, so everyone was riled up and the heat from the boys didn't help things.

The subject of today's argument: what to do with those who couldn't fight.

"Look, all I'm saying is that there are people here who don't have enough training to suddenly start fighting in battle, ADHD or no," I said.

"But we need the numbers," Clarisse argued. "If we don't have enough people, there's no way we'll win this."

"We don't even know how big their numbers are in the first place," Travis piped up. "We could be planning for an army of 20 for all we know."

I laughed without humour. "There's no way their numbers are that small. And what do you suggest with do with campers like Hali? You want to let her fight?" Embry let out a low growl before Quil hit him to shut him up. "She's seven! SEVEN, Clarisse? Even if she gave us the extra number, it wouldn't make a difference! There are plenty of kids at this camp that are way too young to fight, experienced or not!"

"And what about you?" Clarisse shot back. By this time everyone was watching us. At her comment, you could here a pin drop. "You lasted 4 years on your own when you were seven." It was as if everyone in the room held their breath.

"That's entirely different," came my low response.

"How?" she yelled. "How was that any different?"

"Because I was running!" I shouted back. "I wasn't fighting in a Gods damned war! I was running from place to place, trying to survive! I wasn't fighting against a fucking army to save my life!" It went silent. Even Clarisse paused for a moment.

"All I'm saying is if you could do it why can't she."

"Because she's not me," I said quietly. "She's not a kid of the big three, she hasn't been trained, she doesn't have her natural battle reflexes. Not a lot of the younger kids at camp do and they can't go into a battle untrained. I won't let that happen."

"Then what do you suggest we do with them," Michael Yew spoke up, trying to keep the peace for once.

I thought for a moment. "We'll put them all in Zeus' cabin." No one said a word. It was unheard of to stay in another God's cabin, especially Zeus'. "It's the farthest away from the labyrinth. Kim can stay with them, that will keep her safe," I could feel Jared let out a breath behind me. Jake relaxed at my next sentence. "Nessie will be with them so that if any stray monsters get by they're still protected."

Everyone seemed to think it over. The pack nodded, followed by the Stoll brothers, and the rest of the cabin leaders. Chiron turned to me. "Have you thought about how Zeus will feel about all this?"

I looked at him. "Tell him if he has a problem with it he can come talk to me." I turned to the rest of the group, "I think that's good for today. We're all frustrated. Go let off some steam." Everyone except the pack, Chiron, and I left.

"You might want to put one of the guys with the kids, too," I told Jake. "If a couple monsters get passed, Nessie might not be enough."

Jake nodded. "Embry will stay with them." That way he could keep an eye on Hali.

"Atlanta," Chiron said, "Zeus—" He seemed unsure how to say it. "Well, you're not exactly on the best of terms with him and this isn't going to help."

"I know," I said calmly, "but if we have to protect this camp on our own, he's going to have to live with what we decide." I was exhausted and frankly, the big guy could throw whatever the hell he wanted at me, but we had finally come to a consensus and I wasn't about to change everything just because Zeus was going to be picky. If he's not allowed to interfere then he was just going to have to deal. I was so done with this. Jeeze, politics. My voice came out as a whisper, "I just want this to be over." Paul hugged me and I leaned into him and buried my face in his chest.

"We all do," Jake said. "We all do."

Paul and I were sitting on the end of the dock, doing absolutely nothing when I got an IM from Annabeth.

"Hey," I said tiredly.

"I hate you brother," were her first words.

I laughed. "Good to know. What happened this time?"

She explained what happened with the Sphinx and Quintus being Daedalus and Nico and Luke and everything that had happened. Then we got to Rachael.

"Annabeth, you worry about the girl too much. Percy has no clue why you hate each other. He's a guy. Guys are oblivious."

"Hey," Paul objected. "Not all guys!"

I rolled my eyes. "Ignore him," I told Annabeth.

"I just don't know what to do," she said helplessly. Helpless was a new thing for Annabeth.

"You can't do anything until he gets a clue. Just get the quest done and hope for the best. He abandoned Calypso's island for you. He came back for you. He's not just going to drop you now. You mean a lot to him Annabeth. Have faith in that. Now, get back there, say hi to him and Nico for me, and do your thing. Got it?"

She laughed. "Got it, Atlanta. And thanks." Then she was gone.

"You're just full of answers today," Paul told me as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

I leaned my head on his shoulder. "Yeah, I'm just freaking awesome," was my sarcastic response. "Sometimes I wish I didn't have all the answers. It would be a nice break. Having no one rely on you. Just to be able to relax for a day."

"Hey," Paul said softly. "You know you don't mean that. You love being relied on. Right now it's just stressful. You wouldn't know what to do on a day off."

I laughed. "You're right. Now, come on," I said, standing up. "Let's go to bed." And we did just that.

The next day, Paul, the pack, and I got up and went to the clearing by the labyrinth. Today was the day. We got all the cabins together, shipped the younger kids, Kim, Nessie, and Embry off to Zeus' cabin and got ready for battle. Silena and I were putting on our armour with Ty, Leah, and Paul when Carrie Travers came running up. "They're back," she said. "Annabeth and Percy-" I took off with Paul right beside me.

We came to the sight of Chiron, Silenus, Grover, Tyson, Nico, Annabeth, and Percy. I rushed and hugged the three half-bloods, satyr, and cyclops. "Gods, it's great to see you guys in one piece! And Nico, nice to finally see you again."

He smiled back at me before shifting a questioning gaze to Paul. "Oh right, this is my boyfriend Paul, Paul meet Nico, son of Hades."

Paul just nodded his head and shook hands with Nico. It was a silent guy exchange and I didn't even try to understand it.

Then Silenus spoke up. "Wait a moment. What of the search for Pan? You are almost three weeks overdue, Grover Underwood! You searcher's license is revoked!"

"You can't do that!" I objected. "Time works different in the labyrinth how was he supposed to know how long he'd been gone!"

"Rules are rules!" Silenus sneered. _Asswipe. He just doesn't like Grover_.

"Well, the rules need to change," I growled back.

"Searcher's licenses don't matter anymore," Grover cut in. "The great god Pan is dead. He has passed on and left us his spirit."

"Oh, Grover," I muttered and hugged him.

"What?" Silenus's face turned bright red. "Sacrilege and lies! Grover Underwood, I will have you exiled for speaking thus!"

"It's true," Percy told him. "We were there when he died. All of us."

"Impossible!" Silenus spoke up again.

Paul stopped him from continuing before I could. "You have 5 witnesses saying he died. That's more than enough. It sucks, but it must be true." I was quite proud to say the least.

"No!" Silenus contradicted. "You are all liars! Nature-destroyers!"

Chiron had been studying Grover's face the whole time. "We will speak of this later."

"We will speak of it now!" Silenus said. "We must deal with this—"

I was fed up. We had other shit to deal with. "Silenus! Our camp is under attack!"

"The matter of Pan has waited two thousand years," Chiron said calmly. "I fear it will have to wait a bit longer. Assuming we are still here this evening." With that he galloped toward the woods. Leaving us to follow as best we could.

When we got to the clearing I was quite proud of my camp. It looked like a hard core military base camp. Everyone was in the clearing dressed in full battle armour ready to fight for our home. Clarisse was calling out orders to her Ares soldiers on the front line, Beckendorf had the Hephaestus kids set up traps, Yew and the Stoll boys had their archers ready to go scattered through the woods, and dryads and satyrs were armed. The Athena cabin had set up a command post and Annabeth quickly ran over to join them. Silena and her girls were running around being typical Aphrodite kids and straightening armour. Everyone had found something to do and someway to help out. Percy, Paul, Nico, and I were standing with Chiron. Personally, I thought it looked pretty professional, but my doubts were confirmed when Chiron muttered, "It isn't enough."

I nodded, but muttered back, "It's all we've got, so it has to be." Paul squeezed my hand reassuringly. I was not about to loose my camp.

Tyson was off helping the Hephaestus kids prepare the defenses. He piled boulders next to the catapults. Grover was talking to Juniper. Telling her about Pan, judging by the way she was tearing up.

"Stay with me, Percy," Chiron spoke up again. "When the fighting begins, I want you to wait until we know what we're dealing with. You must go where we most need reinforcements. Atlanta, you'll be in charge of dividing the wolves up to make sure we have enough strength everywhere." I just nodded my head. This was serious. This was war.

"I saw Kronos," Percy said, sounding a little shocked. "I looked straight into his eyes. It was Luke . . . but it wasn't."

My little brother went face to face with Kronos who was in Luke's body. I leaned into Paul for a second. Too much shocking information in three sentences. I had to blink a couple times to get my thoughts straight and wrap my head around the fact that not only would we have to kill Kronos, but he would have the face of one of our most loved campers.

"He had golden eyes, I would guess," Chiron replied. "And in his presence, time seemed to turn to liquid." Oh, great, no sense of time either.

Percy nodded. I wasn't that satisfied. "How could he take over a mortal body?"

"I don't know, Atlanta. Gods have assumed the shapes of mortals for ages, but to actually become one . . . to merge the divine form with the mortal. I don't know how this could be done without Luke's form turning into ashes."

"Kronos said his body had been prepared," Percy deadpanned. I wrapped an arm around him and he laid his head on my shoulder.

"I shudder to think what that means," Chiron said. "But perhaps it will limit Kronos's power. For a time, at least, he is confined to a human form. It binds him together. Hopefully it also restricts him."

"Chiron, if he leads the attack—" Percy started.

"Doubtful," I cut him off, stopping that train of thought.

"I do not think so, my boy," Chiron said gently. "I would sense if he were drawing near. No doubt he planned to, but I believe you inconvenienced him when you pulled down his throne room on top of him." He sent Percy a reproachful look. "You and your friend Nico, son of Hades."

Percy looked heartbroken. "I'm sorry, Chiron. I know I should've told you. It's just—"

Chiron raised his hand. "I understand why you did it, Percy. You felt responsible. You sought to protect him. But, my boy, if we are to survive this war, we must trust each other. We must . . ." Chiron trailed off as the ground started trembling. Everyone froze. I squeezed Percy's shoulder in reassurance before Paul and I started sprinting to the pack.

"Jared, I want you with the Hephaestus kids helping to load the catapults, and the rest of you dispersed through the field. Help the campers as much as you can, especially the younger more inexperienced ones." Jared ran off to the catapults and suddenly there were four wolves in front of me instead. I hugged Paul's now furry neck quickly and whispered, "Love you," in his ear before the trembling got worse. It had to be said. Both of us just knew we loved each other, but it still had to be said before we died.

"Lock shields!" Clarisse barked out.

Then the Titan lord's army exploded from the Labyrinth.

Let the fun begin.

**A/N: I'm sorry it took so long! Review even though I'm such a bad person?**


	13. Summer Lovin'

**A/N: Please don't throw things at me! Hope everyone had a great march/spring break, and easter/Passover, summer, Thanksgiving, and any other holiday I missed! Brownie points too . . . **_**Venita-Daughter-of-Pandia, Melody Pond, graciegirl000, GallagherGirl54, PANDAFiiED, saphire130, xXSatanSkittlesXx, wolfgirlisawesome, laryssaluvsya, Rima16, no one knows me like my twin, PurpleKyuubi, Love To Read –P, Andrea Andrews, creamfeathers, marywillow, GreysonDrew, Myrna Maeve, Reading-is-4-life, SilentTalker2000, Guiltysnowkitten, beccster96, Kisa Megimi, lakinjones17, .Myths.x, grrawesome, youngtitansraven101, 874irene, La'Rae and Ninjas Incorporated, DeanFan92, Evangeline43, amongthestarsx, MonkeysGoBoo, mrscullenbby, xxSlytheringirl101xx, AmalaseHunter, kayli42, sciencelover, Demigod-girl43, CompulsiveShopper16, julie662, angletricia,**__**teamleoluver, CatJinx26044, xXCherrydawnXx, darkhuntress621, Milena Picarte, LissaCupcake, RougeReaper, Gifted and Talented Blonde, **_**and**_** Nikkie995.**_

_**Anonymous: **_**Thanks! Did not know that so thank you **** I will be sure to go back and change it **

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_**lydia**_**: Hope you enjoy this chapter **

_**trivia101: **_**Sorry! :P hope this makes up for the cliff hanger! **

_**Myrna Maeve: **_**Glad you enjoyed it! **** I'm glad somebody appreciates the little one-liners :D**

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**And now . . . **

**Chapter 12: Summer Lovin'**

The giants were the first to burst through. It felt as though my ears would burst when I heard their battle cries and I couldn't imagine what the pack felt. I watched as one of the giants swung the Ares phalanx sideways with a great cry and all of a sudden everyone was in battle mode.

"FIRE!" came the great cry from Beckendorf and it was like someone flipped a switch. Jake, Leah, and Quil instantly went into attack mode, as Jared helped fire off the catapults. Arrows were flying left and right and just as it seemed we were getting the upper hand, out came the _dracaenae_.

Thank Gods for the Hephaestus cabin. _Dracaenae_ were thrown left and right as they hit spikes, trip wires, and Greek fire, becoming easy targets for the Apollo kids. Argus and the Athena cabin rushed out taking the _dracaenae_ head on.

Then came the hellhounds.

Percy, Paul, and I took off immediately. The battle around me barely registered as I weaved in and out of fights, knowing I was most needed with the satyrs. I caught glances of campers fighting and falling, and Tyson riding a giant, though I'm not sure how he managed that. I saw Nico summon the dead soldiers to take care of the stray _dracaenae_, Paul pounced on the closest hellhound, the two locking jaws, and simultaneously giving me a heart attack as I worried for him. I watched Percy dive straight into the fight without blinking or over thinking. Part of me was terrified for my little brother, the other part couldn't be more proud.

I swung my sword across the front leg of the hellhound I was fighting, effectively giving him a limp. It made to pounce at me, faltering due to the extra pressure on it's leg. It gave me just enough time to stab my sword through it's chest.

That's when I heard Percy yelling for me. I turned and saw the fire, knowing what he was trying to do. The combined effort of both us Poseidon kids caused the fire as well as pretty much everything else.

I looked around as I surged into battle once more. _This could be it. We might actually make it._ Little did I know, I jinxed us. As soon as I thought it, none other than Kampê shot into the sky. And she was one ugly, angry, dangerous motherfucker.

I heard Chiron's cry as Kampê dodged his arrow. I heard Tyson's cries to fight. Then all of a sudden Annabeth, Percy, and I were running side by side towards her.

"Well, this would be the way to go," I said

"Nice fighting with you, Water-heads," Annabeth commented.

"Ditto," was Percy's reply.

And that's all we needed. Those were the goodbyes of soldiers in the field.

The three of us jumped right in. Percy and Annabeth each took a side trying to divert her attention between both sides while I took care of he scorpion tail. It didn't work. It was as if each limb had a mind of its own. It was three independent fights. Suddenly, the Gods-damned poison came out of nowhere causing a burn in my eyes and lungs as no one moved to help.

And then Paul was there. He came out of nowhere biting at her legs as three of Chiron's arrows struck Kampê in the chest.

"Now!" Annabeth roared. Percy and I needed no encouragement as the three of us charged, getting inside her guard. But then the freaking bear head came out of nowhere, causing us all to jump back. And that millisecond was all it took for Kampê to get us on the ground.

This was it. This was wear we would die.

Next thing I knew, Kampê's weight was gone as Paul, Leah, Jake, and Quil all came to the rescue slamming into Kampê. And then Mrs. O'Leary joined in too, the damned hellhound.

And there was Daedalus.

And Briares.

And all of a sudden we were winning.

And then the _dracaenae_ said, "Ssssslay them! Kill them all or Kronossss will flay you alive!"

I'm sorry could you work on your pronunciation. Slay has one s so pronounce it once please and thank you.

But apparently we weren't scary enough because they attacked with renewed force. And then Grover opened his mouth.

Ho. ly. Shit.

The enemy turned tail and ran, and frankly I was tempted too. I mean what the HELL was that?! I didn't have time to wonder.

I ran frantically trying to find the pack. I lost them after the fight with Kampê. Then there was Leah, hugging Ty, and I watched Embry, Jared, and Jake running to Zeus' cabin. Where was he?

That's when I heard Quil's panicked voice, "LANTA!"

No.

No. No. No.

Nononononononono. He had to be okay. Being hurt was not an option.

That's when I saw him lying there. It looked as if his whole right side had been shredded.

"Kampê got him," Quil whispered, his voice shaking just slightly.

I felt my world crashing as I collapsed to my knees. He was still breathing. Why wasn't he healing?

"We're made to fight vampires. We must react differently to mythological creatures," Quil answered, with a sad attempt to lighten the mood.

I hailed one of the Apollo kids down immediately and he got a stretcher and Paul was in the infirmary getting patched up right away.

* * *

I felt numb. It was as if nothing worked. I was on autopilot as I listened to Percy explain everything at Paul's bedside. Nico in the infirmary for summoning too many dead. Daedalus coming to correct his mistakes. Briares coming because of Tyson. Daedalus' great sacrifice. Giving Annabeth his laptop. Nico's decision not to trade a soul for his sister. Percy taking care of Mrs. O'Leary. It all passed over me in a haze. I barely heard the information, not retaining any of it.

Why wasn't he healing?

He should be fine.

He should have bounced back by now.

Why wasn't he healing?

I watched as the hours went by, the wound slowly starting to stich itself up as the super-healing kicked in. Millimeter by millimeter it started to close until at long last he woke up and I pounced on him.

"You're never fighting again. I'm locking you in the cabin next time. You're not allowed to woory me like that. I'm supposed to be the reckless one. Never again. Never. Ever. Ever ever ever."

He just laughed at me. "Mhmm, love you too, angel." And we stayed, curled up in that tiny infirmary bed, not moving, just basking in the after-glow and the fact we were both ok and we had both made it through. Until Percy came to get us to go to the amphitheater.

"I thought I was going to be up there saying goodbye to you today," I whispered to Paul as I watched Pollux choke with tears after trying to say a few words for his brother. Paul just held me tighter and whispered, "Never. I will never leave you." I squeezed his hand and snuggled farther into his chest as the shrouds were engulfed in flame.

That night Paul and I barely slept. Both of us were strung from the battle and the thought of loosing each other. It was definitely something we would have to work on, especially with what was happening in my world. We stayed curled in bed, holding each other all night, never letting go as if once we stopped touching the other would disappear.

Needless to say that meant at the Council gathering the next day we were both exhausted and short on patience. More short than usual that is.

After Chiron convinced Silenus to let Grover recount his story, several eyewitnesses explained what they heard come out of Grover's mouth at the battle.

"It was panic," insisted Juniper. "Grover summoned the power of the wild god."

"Panic?" Percy and Paul asked, both confused as all get out.

"It's named after the god, Pan," I said.

"During the first war of the gods and the Titans, Lord Pan let forth a horrible cry that scared away the enemy armies. It is—," Chiron started.

"_Was,"_ I injected.

"_Was,_" Chiron conceded, "his greatest power—a massive wave of fear that helped the gods win the day. The word _panic _is named after Pan, you see. And Grover used that power, calling it forth from within himself."

"Preposterous!" Silenus bellowed. "Sacrilege!"

"Who the hell says 'Sacrilege' anymore?" Paul whispered in annoyance. Frankly, I had to agree. Welcome to the 21st century, find a new word!

"Perhaps the wild god favored us with a blessing. Or perhaps Grover's music was so awful it scared the enemy away!" Silenus persisted.

"That wasn't it, sir," Grover stated calmly. He was good. I would've been pissed if I were him. Actually, I was pissed. How dare they accuse Grover of lying over something like a God dying!? Pretty sure that's a one way ticket to Tartarus!

"He let his spirit pass into all of us," Grover insisted. "We must act. Each of us must work to renew the wild, to protect what's left of it. We must spread the word. Pan is dead. There is no one but us."

"After two thousand years of searching, this is what you would have us believe?" Silenus cried. "Never! We must continue the search! Exile the traitor!"

Some of the older satyrs muttered assent.

"You can't just choose to exile someone because you disagree with them!" I interrupted. Silenus needs to get off his freaking power trip. This is ridiculous.

"Fine then! A vote!" Silenus demanded. "Who would believe this ridiculous young satyr, anyway?"

"I would," said a familiar voice. No fucking way. Every person, satyr, and being in the room turned to stare. In strolled Dionysus in a black suit, purple tie, and violet dress shirt, looking so professional I barely recognized him. But he looked sad. Not just his normal wine-withdrawal sad but truly and deeply sad. And that's when I remembered Castor. He had lost a child.

The satyrs scrambled over each other to stand and bow as Dionysus simply waved his hand to create a thrown beside Silenus'.

"Miss me?" he stated simply.

Cries of 'Oh yes!' and 'Of course!' and 'Very much, sire!' came from the satyrs as they all strived to please the God.

"Well, I did not miss this place!" Dionysus snapped. "I bear bad news, my friends. Evil news. The minor gods are changing sides. Morpheus has gone over to the enemy. Hecate, Janus, and Nemesis, as well. Zeus knows how many more."

Zeus' angry thunder rumbled in the distance. Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the sky today. The sun was probably in the west when he got up, the old cow. Not that I'd ever say that to him . . . well.

"Strike that," Dionysus said. "Even _Zeus _doesn't know. Now, I want to hear Grover's story. Again, from the top."

"But, my lord," Silenus protested. "It's just nonsense!"

Dionysus's eyes flared with purple fire, the kind that happened when no one, not even me, dared to question him. "I have just learned that my son Castor is dead, Silenus. I am not in a good mood. You would do well to humor me."

That shut Silenus up. And so Grover started his tale again.

"It sounds like just the sort of thing Pan would do. Grover is right. The search is tiresome. You must start thinking for yourselves." He turned to a nearby satyr. "Bring me some peeled grapes, right away!"

"We must exile the traitor!" Silenus insisted.

"I say no," Dionysus countered. "That is my vote."

"I vote no as well," Chiron put in.

"Us too," I threw in.

"You don't count," Silenus snapped.

Well I tried.

Silenus set his jaw stubbornly. "All in favor of the exile?" He and the two other old cows raised their hands. Stupid, stupid, stupid. All three of them. Stupid.

"Three to two," Silenus said.

"Ah, yes," Dionysus said. "But unfortunately for you, a god's vote counts twice. And as I voted against, we are tied."

Silenus stood, indignant. "This is an outrage! The council cannot stand at an impasse."

"Then let it be dissolved!" Mr. D said. "I don't care."

And that was the end of that.

Grover turned to the satyrs that were left, rallying them in the name of Pan, sending some to national parks and big cities, some to the last wild places in the world, to save the wild.

They grow up so fast.

* * *

"I think that was the quickest council meeting I've ever been to," I said.

"That was quick?" Paul deadpanned. "Dear Gods, I don't want to know what a long one is like."

I giggled. "I think I'm rubbing off on you."

He cocked an eyebrow. "And why do you say that?"

"You said, 'Dear Gods,' plural. That's a half-blood thing." I smiled. "You spend way too much time with me."

He smiled right back. "I don't see that changing in the foreseeable future."

I wrapped my arms around him. "Good."

Then he leaned down and kissed me. And life seemed perfect.

LINE BREAK

Dinner that night was weird. And I say weird because it was normal. We all gave our sacrifice to the Gods in gratitude. And I had a lot to be thankful for this night. Camp was safe for now. The kids were okay. The pack had made it through. My brother, Annabeth, and Grover were growing up into kids I could be proud of. And Paul was alright. Even through the scare, Paul was okay.

But Nico wasn't. I saw him lingering on the edge of camp in the shadows. And nudged Percy. He saw my look and nodded. Nico and Percy were close. Whether they knew it or not, they understood each other. I knew Nico wouldn't stay, but I knew it was important for him to say goodbye and to know that no matter who his dad is he would always have friends and a place hear.

* * *

That night at the camp fire, I looked around as everyone smiled and laughed. The danger was over. Things were going back to normal. Chris Rodriguez had been cured. Dionysus no doubt, though I still haven't figured out why. He and Clarisse were trying to be discreet about their hand-holding but we all saw it. Though we would never say anything. They were too cute.

The rest of the summer went by fast. Paul stayed at camp with me though the rest of the pack went home. They know they are always welcome. It was a normal summer. No surprises. No epic battles. Many capture the flag games.

Percy and Annabeth avoided each other. I thought one of them would grow a pair by the end of the summer and say something, but that didn't happen. Kids! What can ya do!

Things between Paul and I progressed both emotionally and physically. We had our first fight. Verbal and physical. That was a doosy. Needless to say, neither of us are nearly as petrified as the other going into battle anymore. We both realize that there are dangers out there but we can't stop each other from doing dangerous things. I will admit it was mostly about me being reckless, but Paul also had to realize that this is what I do. It was pretty bad. We didn't talk for a few days. That was the worst few days of my life. It hurt to be so close and yet we were so closed off from each other. Never again. Ever.

Percy told me about his little heart to heart with Hera before leaving. Bitch better stay away from my brother. I don't care who she is. I will smite her ass all the way to Timbuktu and back!

Then summer was over. Lucky for me, my house was still there, along with my untouched truck. Thank Gods! I thought someone would've stolen it by now. But I guess that's La Push. And being friends with the pack probably helped. No one would touch my stuff now for fear of it getting back to the boys.

And of course Paul and I surprised Percy on his birthday. We couldn't bring the whole pack due to the size of Sally's apartment, but the two of us went as representatives. The pack got Percy a water gun. Ha-ha. They think they're funny. I was a good sister and got him a sentimental present. It was a necklace. Odd for a guy I know, but it was basically an everyday version of his camp necklace that he could wear all the time without getting weird looks and a lot of questions. It had the three charms on it, identical to the ones on his camp necklace. He loved it and I was awarded sister of the year.

Paul got to meet Paul. Blofis, I mean. Sally's boyfriend. That got confusing fast.

Tyson was there too. I loved that kid. He was truly a son of Poseidon with a heart of gold.

At one point while we were blowing us balloons Paul leaned into me and whispered, "Paul's asking Percy for permission to marry Sally." It changed my view of Blofis completely. I was even more ecstatic when Percy gave him permission.

Then Dad showed up. Talk about awkward. Sally handled it beautifully. I almost burst out laughing when Dad called Blofis Blowfish. It took a lot for me to hold it together. Paul just took me and buried my face in his chest so I wouldn't laugh loudly.

I was glad I didn't burst out going 'Dad!' Blofis looked weirded out enough when Tyson sprang forward with a great cry of "Daddy!"

As Dad passed me, leading Percy away we simply shared a look and a nod. He was there for me no matter what and he knew that La Push was my home now. I have no doubt that he would pop in (literally) to visit once in a while.

* * *

Now it was September. I'd said screw it to school this year so the days were spent wasting away with Kim at Emily's until the two of us could find a job. That ended up happening near the end of October. We both started waitressing at Sue's diner. Well, we waitressed during the day and Kim waitressed at night while I bartended. It was a lot of fun, surprisingly. Near the middle of November Paul moved in with me. It was a big step, but we were ready for it. He needed to get out of his mom's house and I was more than happy to have him live with me. It saved him from having to sneak over every night.

And for you nosy people. Yes Paul and I live together. No we have not done the dirty yet!

**A/N: Tada! The end of Battle of the Labyrinth. I don't know if I want to continue in this story or create a sequel for the last book. Let me know what you think. Hope you all have enjoyed this and don't worry I will be finishing the series! Ta!**


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